Memorization Strategies?
 

Currently working on my private and I'm trying to memorize my checklists. I am working on the emergency checklist right now. Anyways, the small checklists are easy enough to just muscle through in a few sittings. Once you get into the bigger lists how do you commit that stuff to memory? Do you work on it over dinner, while driving, while at work, small stuff at a time, notecards, how?

I've just gone through individual scenarios at work and stuff, doing the motions, visualizing a cockpit. What's your strategies?

Paper tiger...if you have a poster of the cockpit, say and do/touch. Everyone learns differently though.

Yep, what he said.

Do 'flows', not lists.

In the C172S (for example), every checklist begins at the fuel selector, moves up the pedestal to the flap handle and then across the lower panel to the magnetos.

Take your checklist to the airplane and try to put the items on each one in a sequence that will allow your hand to flow from one item to the next in a logical, sequential order.

I agree with tactile learning for flight ops procedures.

For knowledge only stuff, such as lists of electrical loads, repetetive copying of the lists helps. Also you can make up acronyms, like GUMPS.

dont memorize checklists, memorize flows.

I'm curious, a flow does all the stuff on the checklist, but in a different order so that it is in a chain pretty much? Is that what you guys are saying to memorize? That makes sense to me and would be much easier to get in my head..

Also, what should I memorize out of the POH? There seems to be a lot of unnecessary definitions in there so I get sort of confused when I am reading through it as to what I need to memorize and what I can refer to it for.

You are on the right path but instead of just doing the steps, think about WHY you are doing the steps. What does each step accomplish? And why are they in a specific order? Let's take this C-150 emergency checklist.

Why do you want to turn the fuel valve handle off? You want to stop fuel from flowing to the engine fire.
Why mixture cut-off? Again, cut fuel off to the engine
Mayday to tell people you have a problem and may need help (from m'aidez..french for help me)
Squawk 7700 to show people where you are
Master Switch off to cut the electrical power (note: you lose your radio and your squawk will vanish)
Cabin heat off.. why?
Airspeed 120mph why? Certainly not best glide...

Think about the procedure and why you are doing the steps rather than just memorize them. IF you understand why you are doing something rather than just moving switches you will do much better.

Oh.. and good luck <G>