Repetition to achieve the ah-ha moment
I find that when I have my students perform a task repetitively to the point that they can do it in their sleep that is when the ah-ha moment comes....finding them doing something that is very easily done now that they have done it so many times they can clearly see how they have progressed over the amount of time from their beginning of the class. This lets me know confidently that no matter where this student goes into they can perform this task easily.
Cory, I see that repetition is the key to retaining the information. They say that is the way to commit it to memory is if you repeat it. I also feel that if students can see how the material pertains to and is relevant to every day life they understand it better and do not feel it is a waste of their time. Courses may not always be the field of focus for all students but applying it to everyday experience helps. Great post.
Hi Patrick,
That is the key to progressive learning. The students have to see how the sequence of courses and knowledge acquisition is contributing to the realization of their career goals.
Gary
Our program requires the student to build on the skills gained in privious classes. Sometimes the learning sinks in several classes later as they apply their learning at a higher level.
I agree that repetition is required for the students to retain info.I make attempts to present the same material in different formats.This helps the presentation from seeming redundant,which leads to boredom.
Hi Craig,
There are two types of learning. The semantic learning is when the person learns the material without a sense of application. They have memorized the content without understanding. This most often applies to lists of words, dates, and names. Episodic memory is when the learner attaches meaning to the content learned. They see application and connections to the content. This is why in the Career Colleges we need to make sure we are allowing the students to create applications of content so they can problem solve when they are out in their career areas.
Gary
If a student can go through the motions to get the correct answer, but not understand why they are doing it, is it still learning?
Repetition certain hopes to ingrain in students, how certain things are done. Yet, it is surprising that it does not work 100% of the time.
I was surprised that it takes 45 times of repitition.
