Mnemonic devices

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Mnemonic is associated with the Greek god Mnemosyne who was the goddess of memory. Mnemonic devices are a short hand way of remembering lists of items or elements. Common mnemonic devices are for the planets, equations and formulas in math (PEMDAS), and the order  of operations.

SOHCAHTOA

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The mnemonic device used for remembering the order of operations for sine, cosine, and tangent. SOH tells us that O-opposite/H-hypotenuse is the order for Sine. CAH tells us that A-adjacent/H-hypotenuse. Last, TOH tells us that O-opposite/A-adjacent. These show the operations for finding the angles of a triangle. These formulas have to be memorized so they can be applied based on the sides of a triangle that are given. 


Formulas

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One of the questions in math we wanted to examine was how far can memory get you until you have to actually retain and learn information?

When a student is given a formula, it is better to have them "learn" the formula (derive it, know where it came from) then to just say memorize it. When we memorize formulas, numbers, and orders we remember just that, but studies show that comprehension is the key to actually know how to preform the problem. Memorizing restricts a person from understanding the entirety of a subject which may in turn affect the comprehension of the person. It is harder to grasp new concepts when you only know how to memorization and retain information and not how to understand it and learn it. When a person learns the information and really understands it they are able to put it into their own words while memory restricts them to use the words of others. Understanding also can lead to knowledge of outside concepts separate from school formulas and equations. Also, the common thing to do is believe that one answer is always correct, but in learning more about a concept people really begin to grasp it and come to a realization that there are many answers to one question. 


Succeeding in math

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Taken from PBS.org, "Children who succeed in mathematics have a number of brain functions that work together. Children must be able to use memory to recall rules and formulas as well as recognizing patterns." In addition the use of language is necessary as well as ordering and grouping.

Sources:
http://www.myrealestatearticles.net/1528/
http://www.self-improvement-advice.org/mnemonic-devices.html
http://www.sarc.sdes.ucf.edu/documents/learning_skills/memory/MemorizingVsUnderstanding.pdf\
http://images0.cpcache.com/product/science-relativity-mathmatics/23378280v6_225x225_Front.jpg


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/mathbasics.html