Retention and Transfer… 

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

Comments

Leave a comment