Application of New Knowledge
How can you help students to retain and apply new information?
I also find this method very useful. Essentially, during lectures I provide examples and sometime short videoclips to help them to better understand the materials. After certain lectures blocks, I enchance their learning by assignment mini in-class actitives such as individual or group assignments. I also found it useful to have a large group project that the students can work on during the term as they learn the materials. At the end they will submit and present their project.
Mark,
Good strategy. Instructional in this format is much like climbing a ladder. You move up a rung, then another and another. While moving up praise is given and reinforcement occurs.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I teach students to be Commercial truck drivers, I have found that hands on training works best with repetitive praise when new skills.are acquired.
Michael,
Good for you. This is what connecting the dots is all about and the results will be the students see the course as having increased value as application and relevancy to the real world.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
My program is regulated by the state board of nursing. State puts out new guidelines throughout the year our program must adhere to. Our program is constantly utilizing new videos and hands on learning experiences for our students.
I always have my students give an example of using what they have learned in real life settings. This shows them that there are benifits to what they are learning instead of just a diploma.
Hands-on exercises are a great way to apply and help retain new information. "Learn by doing" puts students in the drivers seat to think through a process and control its outcome. In my experience, "real world" scenarios are excellent teaching tools.
You must give your students tools to remember and recall information so can be effective in the work force. I try to use a funny phrase.
Hugh,
Immediate use of newly acquired knowledge is a great instructional strategy and you are using it well with your students. They learn it and then apply it. As a result their working memory bank is where this information and the skills get stored for use when they need it once they are in the field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
By teaching in the computer field, my classes require hands on development. I spend about 1/3 of class in lecture devoted to theory and 2/3 on applying theory to practical, hands on emplamentation. For example, if a student does not know what computer memory is in theory, they will never be able to change out the moduals or trouble shoot a memory problem on a computer or server. Understanding WHAT it is then actually seeing and handeling the modual butds things in a clearer context.
Retaining information and applying new information is a difficult task, but I have had alot of success with a 15 minute review of the previous topic before beginning a new topic.
It is important that students are not only given the opportunity to hear, but to actually do what it is they are learning. This provides an opportunity for the total experience and it is at that point that the true cycle of learning has occurred.
Tina,
Repetition is a powerful learning tool and you are using it well. This approach gets them to making applications of what they are learning in a way that has them repeatedly using the material that has been covered.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
To help students retain and apply new information, I have student demonstrate what they have learned in a project or a class assignment.
Each time I give the students new information I try to incorporate all the new material that was given from the beginning of the semester. Let say the student was learning how to type the alphabet. A of course would be first followed by the remaining 25 letter; but with each new task I would ask the students to use all the alphabet not just the last one they learned.
Repetition seem to be a good strategy for helping student to remember new information.
In order to help students retain the material covered in class it is useful to have a lot of practical examples where students can apply the concept they just learned in the class. Hands on exercise is a good method to make student use the new skills.
FRANCIS,
Immediate use of newly acquired knowledge is so important in order to increase the retention of the content. They get to make application and see relevancy and this increases their motivation as well.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
what the student learns in class should be used in the lab or shop the next time.hands on training reinforces what they learned in class.
You could ask them how the could apply what they learned to every day life or office settings. Give them situations and ask them how they would apply what they have learned.
Rigt after a lecture we go to the exercises and dig into how its done so it helps put two and two togather, with the how nad why.
