Instructors can help students retain and apply new infromation by providing students with the opportunity to reflect upon what was taught during the lecture. Another way is to provide students with a roadmap as to where you are going with the lecture. Also you can highlight or repeat the main points you want the students to take in from the lecture. I also believe that by relating material to ideas and or experiences that students are familiar with with help the process of students being able to retain and apply new information.
The methods I use in order to help students retain and apply new information are a combination of referring and relating to previous material and repetition of the new material.
What I mean by the first part is that I will use something they have already learned and make analogies to it, so that they can see the same general ideas apply. For example, I teach at an audio engineering school. The students move from console to console, and these consoles get more and more advanced. What I like to do is compare the consoles they have learned, to the one they are learning, and then from there introducing what makes this console different.
As for repetition, I believe in the power of muscle memory. It's far more effective than just giving the students notes and leaving it in the realm of theory.
I find way to apply previous concepts to new material by asking questions during the presentation of information. For example when teaching the bones and landmarks of the skull, I point to the line down the middle of the skull and remind the students that they learned the name of a body plane that went through the middle of the body. Many student reply with the word sagittal. They stay engaged and see connections for learning all the new medical terminology.
Students need to practice the new information over and over again. They can do this through assignments, group activities, games, study sessions, projects, and demonstrations.
For example, medical assistant students have stick parties in order to practice thier blood draws, accounting students have to do lots of assignments where they journal to practice thier journaling, and computer students have to practice typing skills in order to increase thier speed.
Hi Catherine,
What are some examples of strategies you use to bring scenarios and examples into your classes. I know other instructors will value having this information for their own instructional planning.
Gary
Using examples and scenarios
Hi Harry,
Good to hear about all of the instructional experience you bring to the classroom. With this experience base you can experiment with other forms of delivery and that lets you be creative with your teaching. I think this is one of the really fun parts of being a teacher.
Gary
By, Edwardo Mojena
By using the same or different information to students and applying it in different ways so they have a long term way of remembering it.
From prior teaching experience and especially from the lesson plans, I have already incorporated numerous ideas brought to my attention.
Students can be motivated and will retain and apply new information if given in short sessions and then if examples are given of how this information will apply to the career they have chosen.
By allowing students to use their newly gained knowledge in applicable ways it will help them to retain this knowledge. The most effective way I have found to do this is by relating the knowledge to what they already know. Allowing them to share experiences as well as helping to relate the subject to something they already know. I once had a student that was a limousine driver and could not grasp a concept on carboxyhemoglobin. By using his previous knowledge and experience, I explained the concept utilizing his limousine and passengers to understand.
Hi Robb,
I like this strategy. It is simple, effective and very practical. They can do it in their own home which gives application to the exercise outside of the classroom and they are as you say physically involved throughout the learning process, plus they see the benefits through their test scores.
Gary
Depending on the type of information, I try to get the students physically involved in the material. For example, I teach in a culinary school and the first term students must memorize all of the weight and measure conversions. It is very difficult to look at a chart and memorize all of this information.
I suggest to the students that they go home and take all of their measuring devices and stand by the kitchen sink. They then need to begin filling measures with water and filling larger measures and counting as they do it (e.g. take a tablespoon and fill it 16 times to make a cup, etc). They need to do this with all of the measures, small to large and large to small. With this type of practice they involve many of their senses; touch, sight, hearing, speaking.
Those students that actually do this exercise always do well on the examination. Those that do not usually fail.
Hi George,
Thanks for creating the mental images for us. They give me a real clear picture of how storing new knowledge will works.
Gary
My primary methodology to student learning retention is to make the material meaningful i.e. use interesting real life and practical stories from my or fellow colleagues experiences . . . if one paints the story picture well it creates mental visions to which t5he student can hang learning topics, items and information . . . I refer to this as "Mental coat hangers" in their storage closet of information.
By first letting them know that they matter, they can accomplish the task, the material is useful, giving them various views of the material, and setting up an application that helps students use the material.
Hi Shannon,
You have a very good strategy for building both the skills and the confidence of your students. You are offering different methods of knowledge development which keeps them engaged. Good job of offering comprehensive instructional opportunities.
Gary
I give my students activities in the workbooks to complete and we do review activities as a class on the board. The students like to do both. I take a few minutes at the beginning of each class to review what we discussed the day before so the information stays fresh in their memory. The students do "hands on" activities such as BINGO in my Med Term II class and claim forms on the computer in my Health Insurance class. My Med Term II class enjoys the handouts I make for them and I have seen some of their grades improve due to the paperwork. I also tell my students to make sure they ask me when they don't understand something and we will go over it as a class to make sure everyone understands. I try to encourage them everyday that they can complete the course with excellent grades if they apply themselves well and ask questions when needed. As we go through the chapters in the textbooks, I try to tie in the past chapter(s) so the information is fresh in their mind.
Hi Edwin,
Right you are about keeping current. I appreciate your comment about keeping current but with accurate data as well. This is so important so we don't get caught up in sharing something that is not commonly accepted by the field.
Gary
It is the instructor’s obligation to keep a breast of new or developing data/Knowledge; however, it's introduction to lecture and especially testing material should be highly scrutinized as to relevance. Great care is needed, with respect to the usefulness of the new data - specifically in technical fields.
Hi Margaret,
So true. All of us need to repeat the content or skill until it becomes a part of our working memory. The fun part of teaching is to come up with creative ways to have the students repeat the content until they have it.
Gary
