I give a 'pop' quiz at the start of class with 3 questions that pertain to the previous lecture for extra credit. it is a chance for students to manage their grades, recall what they know (or discover what they don't know before it counts against their grade) and because we do the exercise at the start of class it also encourages students to arrive on time and get settled in.
There are several ideas I will walk away from this class eager to try. A few tools I will try to implement are:
1. more time for debriefing
2. more inclusion of the room in the visual aspect of learning
3. more dissection of the final product (backwards sequencing)
I already use group discussions to connect concepts to their life experience. I will incorporate more of it.
I always try to say postive things to my students and build them up.
I already unknowingly use a couple of the memory techniques to increase learning retention. One, I try to tie new information to common, everyday experiences or pop culture. I find that when the students can relate this new info to something they already know, they tend to have a quicker understanding of the new concept and hopefully retain it after being tested. Two, I try to make things funny whenever possible through examples or visuals because it: a) lightens the mood of the room; and b) helps students remember the info.
One new thing I particularly liked (although it's not necessarily from the "memory techniques" section of this module) was the concept of "backwards chaining." That section hit me in the face big time! The proverbial lightbulb definitely lit up during that section of this module. It's something I haven't thought of before, but I am definitely going to use it from here on out!
I can arrange breaks more strategically to coincide with important information right before and right after the break-
I will now use the concepts I learned from the course. Students remember the first things that happen - one of the strongest memory influences. I will review the learning objectives first, and follow it up with a fun exercise that is tied to one of the learning objectives. I will also change it up by not just lecturing, but adding new activities. I will also build on students learning retention by using more visual aids and link it to back to learning.
I really like the idea of mixing things up to maximize retention. In the current class I am teaching, student have to pass the final test to pass the class. I see fear in the eyes of each student. I sincerely believe the tests are preventing the students from retaining/memorizing. I use review activities almost as much as delivering the material and it helps the students retain the info so much better.
Good for you Amy!
It is definitely worth the few minutes that we spend in review.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED107 Facilitator
Good for you Terri and good for your students!
You have taken a great approach by using the info gained from ED107 forums.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED107 Facilitator
Having reviewed ED107 at the beginning of the current term, I took advantage of a few ideas found in the memory research concepts I discovered.
For one of my classes, I utilized the idea of recency.
The course is a very visual and research intensive class. I had developed power point presentations which followed the lecture notes I had written. I provided the key notes as a Microsoft Word doc to the students. They followed the printed words as I discussed the visuals.
Yes, that is not recency. The recency came when I was supplied with a power point presentation created by the authors of the text. The approach is a bit different in content and presentation. So, I began to use the author's PP at the beginning of class to provide a review of the class held the previous week.
For the second class I tried using backward training.
In previous terms, during lectures I had referenced and asked the students to flip through their notebooks to view examples of the particular items I was discussing during lecture. As the course began to progress and the information for each class began to become more specific, I learned of backward training in ED107.
With this newfound knowledge, I began the lectures in a new way. Prior to lecture and in a more casual way, I discussed and showed larger example of the particular items. Then when I lectured, the students were more receptive to flipping through their notebooks to view and discuss the items.
This second course is one that truly depends upon building on the previous knowledge gained. It is always a delight when the students take ownership of that knowledge and realize how it WILL apply to their careers!
I am going to make sure I wrap the class up formally. I tend to bow to the time pressure of letting the class go instead of taking advantage of recency and briefly summing up what we have learned during the day.
When I review a class before it starts I highlight the important topics 1st. Then I go through and highlight the supporting materials. During class I repeat the important topics throughout the day. Something I will do differently is repeat these topics more often during the week before test day.
I teach computer concepts and I've noticed that student do not read the material. I am going to start encouraging students to scan the chapter before coming to class. This could be accomplished by referring them to the companion website and asked them to read the objectives for the chapters as well as the summary; then I have them work on the online study guide which reinforces their knowledge.
Hi Kathleen,
Great approach! I am lucky to have a room dedicated to my program, so I have a much visual stimulation related to the topic on my cork boards and wall. Anytime students have a group exercise where they write things down to share with group, we post them. Very interesting how students will refer back to them during other classes.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED107 Facilitator
I will start out each class with strong key bullet points(Primacy) and finish with a review exercise(Recency).
I like to create an environment, where students can move their chairs around when drawing a model to see different points of view. (Uniqueness)
In the end, I am looking for my students to retain as much information and keep them engaged.
I will make a very conscious effort to choose my wording more carefully. Thus helping the students realize they can achieve their main objectives.
The first day of class I give a little assessment that tells the student whether they are a kinesthetic, visual or auditory learner and then we talk about ways to listen in the classroom. What clues are around them that help them retain information.
The third day in we do a lesson on Listening with exercises and after we finish we deconstruct one of our words:
Listening: the act of receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding. This is what our book teaches and until I saw listening this way, I did not really think about it.
WE discuss the value of trying to figure out where an individual has a breakdown and how to work on fixing that breakdown in communication. I always use testing as the first thing to evaluate. If you did poorly, where was the breakdown. Then we discuss the effectiveness of being prepared for a class. Ex: perhaps homework is valuable for next day's lecture as it might ground you with an understanding of the material so that you can understand the lecture, etc.
We also talk about observing the way your colleagues listen. What kind of cues can you give an employee that will help them engage in what you are saying.
Reviewing at the beginning of the class the previous class's high points, and reviewing the current material at the end of class are strategies I plan to use in the classroom.
Examples of real world experiences using the students as the participants in the examples. Then, in subsequent classes, I go back to the prior example (using the same students) and build on that, repeatedly. The examples are always funny and usually make the students think. On quizes and finals they often use the same examples and the same students (by name) in the examples. The humor seems to work for helping them remember.
