Engineering Students
Engineering students, um… well… what I mean is… nah, forget it.
There are days that an engineering student is asked about a topic that was discussed two or three years ago, and no longer has any memory of that topic. Like “do you remember the formula in solving the sum of an infinite geometric series?” or “how do you convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit?” and the student responds with a smirk, and deep-thinks as if the formula will just dawn upon him/her again. It’s funny because that same student has aced that exam involving the topic, only to be dumb about it years later.
Engineering students forget like ordinary human beings do. Such is the mentioned case; because subjects that are no longer used in the majors are already lying on stealth mode inside our brain. It only takes a little review for it to be back in our immediate memory.
That’s how it works with an engineering student’s memory. With information that you use almost everyday, say the principle of moments, you can never forget that. It is acceptable for civil engineering students to forget about their general chemistry topics when they reach their higher years since it is not necessarily required in the profession anyway.
As engineering students, it is important to take in mind what kind of information needs to be retained and what needs to be forgotten. Classify what will be needed in the field and those that are just filler engineering knowledge. When you take so much information in your mind that you do not need anyway, needless to say, you will get an overload. And when overload happens, every piece of knowledge might just collapse. Then mental block.
Right after an engineering student takes an exam, a moment of memory flush happens most of the time. Especially after finals, all of the studied information just goes down the drain, having a problem retaining the knowledge after a break. It happens.
All it takes is some revisiting – be familiar with the topics, most importantly formulas, that you might encounter or even use next term. That way you won’t have a hard time battling about forgetfulness while studying engineering. It wouldn’t hurt if you scan your notes over the break, right?