Use of drawing as a method to enhance your learning as well as recall.

Use of drawing as a method to enhance your learning as well as recall.

For a long time now, I have been using the technique of drawing to enhance student grasping as well as recall with successful results. (As per feedback from my students) This is especially true in my subject of specialisation which is Anatomy, a subject that lends itself well to visualisation.

Finally I decided to explore how exactly drawings help my students, and this is what I found and wish to share.

Drawing helps by:

1.????Engagement and focus: When a student draws, they become actively involved with the material being taught in class. Their focus is heightened which helps them to absorb the information more effectively

2.????Visualisation: Drawing allows the learner to create visual representations of abstract concepts, making them more tangible and easier to understand. Visual cues aid memory retrieval by providing a mental anchor to the information

3.????Physical memory: The act of drawing involves physical movement, making it a kinaesthetic learning experience. This tactile involvement can reinforce memory and understanding, especially for individuals who learn better through hands-on activities.

4.????Connecting thoughts through images: Drawing encourages you to form connections and associations between ideas. The learner is able to link relationships between concepts on paper or any digital drawing implement to create mental image links that facilitate recall.

5.????Dual information entry into the brain: This method of combining visual and verbal information improves learning and recall. When the learner draws and writes down information, learner creates two channels through which their brain encodes the material, reinforcing memory retention.

6.????Personalisation of material being learnt: The learners often edit the diagrams in their own unique way, making the information being learnt more personal and relatable for the learner.

7.????Creativity: Drawing even while copying a diagram is always a unique and creative process. If the learner is encouraged to enjoy this process of drawing, it creates positive emotions which are then linked to the topic being learnt enhancing memory consolidation.

8.????Simplification to the core concept: Creation of visual representation of a topic necessitates simplification of complex issues distilling it down to the core concept.

9.?It’s a Story: Often drawing helps create a narrative around the information that the student is exploring enhancing the learning by creation of a linear direction for information entry and hence recall at a later date.

Suggestion to my student readers:

The process of drawing not only helps the learner but also helps the Teacher.

So once you have learnt a topic using diagrams, try teaching it to others similarly. The process of teaching by itself is a very effective way to consolidate your own knowledge.