|
20
Ways to
Make Instruction More Memorable
Barbara Fulk, PhD
Intervention in School and Clinic, Vol. 35, No. 3., pp. 183-184
January 2000
Three explosions are simultaneously vibrating through our schools
and classrooms. First is an explosion of content information to
be taught. Second is an increased emphasis on student learning outcomes.
Third is the growing number of students with learning and attention
difficulties who struggle with grasping new concepts and retaining
information over time. Consider the following instructional strategies,
which are designed to maintain student interest, maximize student
engagement, and optimize the memory of content information over
time.
1. Grab their attention.
Employ a variety of introductory activities or "attention grabbers"
to stimulate student interest in the learning task. Stress ways
that the content to be taught is meaningful or applicable to students'
lives and outside interests.
2. Make it relevant.
State a clear purpose and objective for each lesson. Tell students
exactly what you expect them to be able to accomplish following
each teaching segment. Stress goal attainment so that students recognize
and take pride in their own progress.
3. Do it together.
Stress the active engagement of students in their learning process.
Encourage them to correct their own mistakes and to learn from them.
Use any mistakes that you make as "teachable moments."
Encourage cooperation rather than competition so students seek ways
to be coaches and study buddies for one another.
4. Try teams.
Utilize the social needs of your students for added motivation.
Many students will work harder for the success of a peer group than
they would when working alone. Use learning teams whose members
are rotated regularly. Students can practice the interpersonal skills
required to work effectively with different individuals as they
achieve essential learning outcomes.
5. Take aim. Teach
goal setting and encourage students to set their own realistic goals.
You can help by providing a realistic range (e.g., "Tell me
how many paragraphs you will write today. I'll guess you can write
between two and six paragraphs during one class period"). These
short-term goals are easily met, yet are stepping stones to larger
achievements.
6. Keep it visual.
Teach students to monitor and graph their progress toward the goals
that they select. Simple graphs provide excellent visual displays
and documentation of student progress. As an added benefit, these
graphs are good learning activities in themselves.
7. Create a schemata.
Take time to explore students' prior knowledge before teaching a
new concept or skill. Become an expert in creating bridges from
students' past experience to new learning. Emphasize ways that new
content relates to students' prior knowledge as well as to content
that you have presented in class.
8. Think big.
Stress the relationship and use graphics to visually display the
link between superordinate concepts or global ideas. Less skilled
learners, in particular, may fail to see the relationship between
topics unless these are stated explicitly.
9. Draw it out.
Employ a variety of graphic organizers. Charts, diagrams, maps,
and semantic webs are examples of visual displays that are useful
for facilitating learning and memory. Generic templates can be easily
modified for use across content areas.
10. Show them how.
Provide numerous examples, models, and illustrations of the new
concept or skill. Be sure to include more complex problems as well
as some straightforward examples. Ask students to create additional
problems for each other and for the class.
11. Stimulate the
cognitive. Use "think-alouds" as you demonstrate the
steps to a new process or procedure. Tell students exactly what
you are thinking and why as you employ each step. The key is to
verbalize explicitly those self-regulating cues that you would normally
perform automatically. Consider the needs of skill "novices"
and try to prevent areas of difficulty with specific instruction.
12. Teach a trick.
Stress the use of mnemonic techniques for improved memory. In some
cases, first-letter acrostics may be devised (e.g., ROYGBV for the
colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet).
In other cases, keyword mnemonics may be used for associative information.
To remember that Taft was president when federal mail service was
established, select a keyword that is familiar to students (e.g.,
raft sounds like Taft). Second, think of an interaction between
the word and the answer (e.g., picture a mailbag floating on a raft).
Use the steps to recall Taft and the establishment of mail service.
13. Talk out loud.
Coach students to elaborate as they reason through topics that follow
logical sequences or action-reaction formats. Encourage students
to problem-solve by asking probing questions-"Why does it make
sense that. . . " or, "The fishing industry is big business
in ... ? "
14. Build on what
they know. Use scaffolded learning by providing very detailed
instruction and materials during early learning. Offer less scaffolding
as learners become more skillful with the content. Once you have
modeled a procedure on numerous occasions, you can prompt students
to become more independent in their use of this technique.
15. Keep the action
going. Employ a variety of methods for actively involving students
in practicing their new skills. Small dry-erase boards and individual
chalk or game boards provide excellent opportunities for guided
practice and allow additional feedback to students.
16. Make a note.
Teach students to take lecture notes using a series of guided steps.
For the earliest lessons in note taking, provide a structured outline
that requires students to fill in the blanks. In subsequent lessons,
gradually decrease the amount of information that you provide and
require increased levels of student input.
17. Think ahead.
Encourage students to make predictions, to summarize, and to monitor
their comprehension as they read independently. After direct instruction
of these reading strategies, students can be prompted to use and
practice comprehension skills across content areas.
18. Practice, practice,
practice. Provide lots of opportunities for students to practice
a new skill. These can take the form of coaching activities (e.g.,
"Tell your buddy." "Show the person on the left."
"Read to your partner.") or other relevant practice methods.
19. Clinch new learning.
Use specific closure activities to complete a learning segment or
lesson (e.g., "Tell two important things you learned today."
"Summarize in one sentence what you learned about. . .. "
"Before the bell we have just enough time to name the steps
we learned today.").
20. Refresh their
memories. Provide systematic review for the content you teach.
Even the most motivating instruction will not be remembered unless
it is reviewed in a systematic way. Research supports the use of
distributed rather than massed practice. Devise a schedule of weekly
review sessions and be sure to include games or other activity-based
formats.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barbara Fulk, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of
Special Education at Illinois State University. Address: Barbara
Fulk, Illinois State University, Campus Box 5910, Normal, IL 61790-5910.
If you have any questions about learning disabilities, adult attention
deficit disorder, or other disabilities and how they affect learning,
contact
ACCESS (805) 378-1461
Return
to Information for Faculty
|
