My primary realization in reading the section on memory is the lack of time I devote to review, capitalizing on the recency effect. Given the maerial to be covered in each class period, class interaction and questions usually take us right to the end of the class, and the review process is usually overlooked. This is a process that I as a teacher need to make a stronger commitment to and plan the sequencing better.
I am going to use more word assoiation when i teach.
I really like the idea of mixing things up to maximize retention. In the current class I am teaching, lots of competency tests are required. I see fear in the eyes of each student. Maybe I should do all the competencies first, and then proceed through the class so that the students can learn the material without so much fear. I sincerely believe the tests are preventing the students from retaining/memorizing.
Raymond,
First, sorry this has taken me a bit of time to respond to... I'm very behind in my emails.
I love this idea. I do similar things by introducing terms in my course objectives and then asking them to pick their top 3 course objectives. It's a great use of cognitive dissonance.
Lou Russell
A tactic that I like to use is: At the first of each class I write "words of the day" on the white board and have the students look these word meanings up while roll is called. This does two things. 1 it is words that the students will be learning about during that day. Two it ensures that the first 5 or 10 minutes of the day is porductive and not wasted.
Ekan -
I once met a man who started 'Sesame Street' and he said something that influenced me a great deal. He told me that before you can teach, you must first get the student's full attention. The best way to do that is through small, interesting things like color, activity, games, environment, food and other things you mention.
Lou Russell
Maximun retention may be achieved through activities that could enhance mental alertness. Some examples are ensuring that the students know the benefits of a good breakfast before the beginning of their academic day, and always letting them participate in drawing up the major objectives of the course considered.
Linda -
That's a great idea. It's also a good way to introduce new information to help them self-discover. We use Game Show Pro, a great software package from Learningware that has Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Millionaire and Tic Tac To... I think I'm forgetting one. Anyway, they have a special pricing version for schools, including career colleges. Drop me an email at lou@russellmartin.com if you want the contact information. Thanks!
Lou
Ususally as a refresher and in an effort for the students to retain the steps we have taught we spend time reflecting on the course. My Instructors play a jeopardy game where the students actually split into teams and have to come up with the questions for the other team. We have them come to the front of the class and answer a specific question by doing the task on the overhead. Teams become very competitive and remember specific instructions we have taught them.
Steve -
Sorry, I think I missed this one somehow. Isn't it amazing how important word choice is? A simple choice of words can create a power to learn, or a power to avoid learning. Thanks for staying positive for your learners.
Lou Russell
Ronald -
It seems you are responsible for leading many other faculty. It might be helpful to get them together to create a couple of 'frames': game formats or ideas that can be applied to different topics easily. How will you motivate them to change the way they teach now? To be it bluntly, why should they?
Lou Russell
Kevin -
Well, that's a pretty wonderful thing. I have always taught technical methods as well as software for awhile. Unless the learners can buy-in to the WHY - through a story of how a business will use it, or something - it can become pretty useless knowledge. I once knew a guy who memorized the LOTUS 123 keystrokes for file retrieve (/fr) never knowing what it meant. If he mistyped, he had no idea how to recover. The clock is tough on us in today's world - learning falls victim to it all to often. I like to say Teach Less (well), Learn More.
Thanks, Lou
I'm afraid I had fallen into the trap of pushing for time/task oriented results and begun neglecting some of the aspects covered here. Most apparently, to me, Emotional.
As the instructor of a more "technical" field, to me the facts that I teach are just that... facts. It is what it is and there aint no changing it.
But, this module cause me to rethink some of my approaches to try to stimulate the emotions of the student to aid in retention rather than relying on Primacy and Recency.
Our current learning retention methods rely heavily on recency, visual and information chunking techniques. Through my study of the students' reactions to subject matter being presented, it is my hope to incorporate more of the emotional and uniqueness methods to the learning process.
