Blog

Trauma no matter how severe or seemingly simple can affect how we think, remember and learn. Creating an environment where students and professionals are allowed to thrive is a very important piece to not letting that trauma control their everyday lives.

Outdoor Learning: Being outside, surrounded by trees, sunshine and the tactile sensations can help in reducing stress and anxiety. There is an element to outdoor learning that allows for movement and dance and feeling the ground through our fingertips. (O’Toole & Mulholland, 2021). As students experience the outside world, they can come face-to-face with bugs, plants, the wind. All of these elements add to the learning experience as well as understanding how compassion for the environment and the small things that grow. By learning in a space that is free of walls, the memory factors are stimulated and retaining those experiences can be stronger and more apt to be recalled.

Taking Time to Breathe: Whether in a classroom, or a professional setting, taking a few minutes each day to stretch and breathe can be exponentially important in centering the mind to improve memory. By learning how to take time out of a busy and just breathe, many at risk students can slowly begin to learn how to regulate their emotions, and potentially have less outbursts and more focus. (Metz et al., 2013). As stated in the article, prolonged exposure to stress hormones can lead to a decline in the hippocampal neurons, which can cause issues with memory retention. (Metz et al., 2013).

References:

O’Toole, C., & Mulholland, M. (2021). When it matters most: a trauma-informed, outdoor learning programme to support children’s wellbeing during COVID-19 and beyond. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03323315.2023.2261432

Metz, S. M., Frank, J. L., Reibel, D., Cantrell, T., Sanders, R., & Broderick, P. C. (2013). The effectiveness of the learning to breathe program on adolescent emotion regulation. Research in Human Development, 10(3), 252–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2013.818488

Trauma can affect the brain in ways that creates lasting changes. The most impacted locations for this to occur are the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex. Stressors affecting the brain can lead to such diagnoses as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. (Bremner, 2006). This type trauma can be a root cause of depression, substance abuse, disassociation, and potentially long term health problems. Stress can lead to poor sleep, hyperawareness, intrusive thoughts, and nightmares. These symptoms can lead to changes in memory, concentration and changes in the structure of the brain. (Bremner, 2006). Alterations of our memory functions due to stress can affect the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex, directly involved with managing our memories and memory creation.

References:

Bremner, J. D. (2006). Traumatic stress: Effects on the brain. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3181836/

By understanding how our students learn and remember, we can better help them to forget much less. As we move through lessons it becomes more important to use tools that not only enhance the ability to remember, but that makes recall much less of a struggle. When a student sees the same process of a lesson delivery multiple times, this can aid in the application of doing it again. (DiTullio, 2021)

It is said that what a learner already knows and thinks, at the beginning of an experience, will be the most reliable indicator of what will be learned. (Halpern & Hakel, 2003). In many cases, the educator will not inquire ahead of time to determine what the students may already know and any prior experiences that could potentially enhance the retention of the information provided. Administering tests frequently will also provide the valuable information needed to understand how the level of retention is part of the learning.

Practice makes perfect, as the old adage goes. Well, maybe not perfect, but at least easier to remember. By using familiar and repetitive recall exercises, recalling information becomes less of a struggle over time. Students can improve their own skills by teaching their knowledge to their classmates. By answering similar questions frequently, their own recall improves, strengthening comprehension. (Halpern & Hakel, 2003)

References:

Lee, J. D., & Kirlik, A. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Engineering. Oxford University Press.

DiTullio, G. (2021, September 9). How to engage students’ memory processes to improve learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-engage-students-memory-processes-improve-learning/

Halpern, D. F., & Hakel, M. D. (2003). Applying the science of learning to the University and Beyond: Teaching for long-term retention and transfer. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 35(4), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091380309604109

There are several different types of memories all contributing to the way these moments and experiences are stored and recalled. As our brain utilize these specific memories, the pathways with our brains strengthen, making storing memories easier to remember at different times.

SENSORY MEMORY: These stem from the basic first moments of an interaction. Involving the Five Senses, these memories can only last a fleeting few seconds before they are tossed into oblivion. Taste, smell, sight, taste and touch give a glimpse of what is immediately in our presence.

Short-Term Memory: This very brief type of memory only lasts a few seconds, but can increase in duration with repetition or giving context to details that makes the moment easier to recall.

Long-Term Memory: This type of memory refers to the ability to hold on to and retrieve experiences, conversations and senses for extended periods of time. The durations could be from a few hours ago to several years ago. The time for retention is unlimited and not restricted to any amount of information.

The Importance of Memory in Learning: As short term memories are stored in the hippocampus, a recent study indicates that short-term and long-term memories are stored near the same time, but the longer counterpart lies ‘dormant’ for a couple of week. ( Trafton , 2017). These ideas may change our previous understanding of how memory consolidation occurs. When memories form, the physical structure of the brain begins to change. as neurons make new connections and synapses, long-term memories take root. As we create these new connections and highways our brains get stronger and more flexible. This learning process and memory formation increases the longer we are exposed to a stimulating environment. (Straube, 2012)

References:

Ackerman, S. (1992, January 1). Learning, recalling, and thinking. Discovering the Brain. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234153/

Trafton  , A. (2017, April 6). Neuroscientists identify brain circuit necessary for memory formation. MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. https://news.mit.edu/2017/neuroscientists-identify-brain-circuit-necessary-memory-formation-0406

Straube, B. (2012, July 24). An overview of the neuro-cognitive processes involved in the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of true and false memories – behavioral and brain functions. BioMed Central. https://behavioralandbrainfunctions.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-9081-8-35