PLE Post 5: Memory and Instruction

How might your knowledge of the memory processes guide your instructional decisions?

We, our Ed Psych class, have spent the last few class periods discussing and learning about long-term memory storage and retrieval.  I now understand the effect rehearsal, regular practice, meaningful instruction, making connections, relevance, learning across contexts, emotional connections, retrieval cues, distinctiveness, and allotting adequate wait time have on one's ability to remember.  After investigating and discovering how students remember, I now know how to teach in such a way that will facilitate this "remembering."  When planning, I will always allow time for activating prior knowledge, making connections, explaining relevance, and review.  When introducing novel concepts, I always want to provide distinct examples for clarification, application, and deeper understanding.  I will also consciously focus on allowing adequate wait time.  Last semester, my Reading Education 430 instructor shared with our class that she provides 8 seconds of wait time before answering the question herself or altering her question.  I intend to model her method.  When appropriate, I also want to enable students to make emotional connections, teach retrieval cues such as HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior), and practice cross-curricular instruction.

Earlier today, Allie Carey and I presented on long-term retrieval to our Ed Psych class.  We conducted a "smells activity" to demonstrate the effect that odor has on one's ability to recall memories formed long ago.  We found an article on the Association for Psychological Science website, that discussed the strong influence odors have on memory, especially in children.  We distributed different scents (objects with distinctive odors such as crayons, cedar chips, pencil shavings in ziploc baggies) to students and asked them to share any memories conjured up by the smell with their nearby classmates.  While I understand that few opportunities to incorporate "smells" into my lessons will arise, I want to try to involve "smells" in my lessons whenever appropriate.  For example, if students are learning about the plant life cycle, I might bring in flowers for students to sniff.  Perhaps then my students might make an association between their knowledge of the plant life cycle and a floral scent.  Hopefully, this association will strengthen students' understanding and knowledge of the plant life cycle and will allow them to store this knowledge in their long-term memory.