Communication

If you’ve retained something, then successfully recalled it on demand when needed, you still need to show that you’ve learned it. “Communication” is to do with expressing your knowledge, proving to someone else that your learning has been successful. It’s to do with “giving it back”, in the form that will score maximum credit for you. It’s to do with getting all the marks you deserve in exams, for example.

To sum up, however complex psychologists may make the learning process, in practical terms the three most controllable stages can be described very simply:

• Getting things to stick
  
  
• Getting them back when you need them
  
  
• Being able to express your knowledge.
  
  

We’ll tackle each of these in various parts of this series of study skills guide. The study skills guide on “Making Learning Tools” goes into a number of ways of making sure that the retention and recall steps don’t let you down. The study skills guide on “Exam Technique” focuses on the business of communicating what you know.