Hi Vuman --

Welcome to PC. I don't know anything about the courses you are describing.

I teach college courses, and I feelibit skeptical about these courses. I don't want students to memorize so much as I want them to master the material. This means they have to use critical thinking skills to integrate course concepts with their observations and experiences in everyday life.

I've started giving take-home tests in many courses, because students live in an environment where information is at their fingertips. Finding information is not a problem for most of us these days. I use Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive learning outcomes as a guide to what I would like students to master.

Visualize it as a pyramid. At the bottom level is knowledge. At the top level of cognitive outcomes is evaluation. It seems to me that a course in memorization addresses only the first step in learning. Perhaps looking over these developmental aspects of learning will help you to evaluate what these memorization courses have to offer you.

There are often resources on campus that teach how to study and how to prepare for tests and other assignments. Generally, these are free. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to identify some of these resources before spending your hard-earned money on memorization courses.

1. Knowledge –The learner defines, describes, enumerates, lists, labels, identifies, examines, and tabulates. Learning at this level is primarily rote in nature -- meaning, it is at the level of memorization.

2. Comprehension –The learner demonstrates the meaning of concepts. Summarizing in your own words and interpreting are two activities that demonstrate comprehension.
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3. Application –The learner uses learning to solve new problems.

4. Analysis – These functions often overlap. In solving the problem, I may have to identify the parts of the problem so that I can relate them to concepts I am learning. Analysis literally means taking something apart to see how the parts function in relations to each other and to the whole.

5. Synthesis – This is an "Aha, this is almost like that" moment. Again, these cognitive steps are not separate, but overlap as we master knowledge.

6. Evaluation – Instead of relying on our gut-level emotional responses, we are able to provide support for our conclusions. For example, at the beginning of this post, I noted that my feelings were that a course in memorization was not a high-quality educational tool. After I looked up Bloom's taxonomy to refresh my memory, I have been able to provide you with criteria against which to evaluate the promises these courses make and whether they will fulfill your learning needs.

You will go through many of the other steps of application, analysis, and synthesis as you reach your decision.

Good luck, and I hope you keep us posted. I'm interested in learning what you finally decide about these programs that have caught your interest.