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Active working memory, the ability to hold things
together in the mind, such as ideas or steps in a process, plays
a large role in helping students deal with large volumes of material
and form concepts. In order to build concepts, students must recode
and condense what they are learning. Students with active working
memory problems may have trouble utilizing information in their
heads while performing a task, such as when working a math problem
or while reading a chapter.
Here are some techniques to help students enhance
their understanding through active working memory strategies.
Helpful Hints
- Preview material, such as difficult words,
new concepts, challenging computations in math, etc. so that
students can allocate energy to the task without getting overloaded
by active memory demands.
- Present information in manageable chunks
or stages, rather than all at once. For example,
- Break extended activities down into smaller
tasks, e.g., a long lecture into two parts.
- When giving directions and instructions,
limit the use of multi-step directions; e.g., give only
1 or 2 steps at a time. Ask students to repeat the directions
before beginning the task.
- Group similar concepts together in your
lesson. Help students see the patterns in what they are
learning through how your presentation is organized.
- Teach students to build their active
listening skills in order to enhance learning and understanding.
For example,
- Teach students to use a self-monitoring
technique for active listening, such as FACT (Focus attention-
Ask yourself questions- Connect ideas- Try to picture important
ideas).
Arrange for students to engage in post-listening activities:
Review notes from a lesson after class, Connect what was
heard today with what is already in notes, Question themselves
if there's anything they don't understand so they can get
immediate clarification, Draw up a summary statement from
the lecture, and Read the summary statement as a pre-listening
tool at the beginning of the next class session.
- Integrate listening and memory practice
into daily instruction by having students give you a title
for a short story read aloud, a summary of a brief passage
read aloud, or by reorganizing mixed up sentences into the
proper order.
- Encourage students to represent new
ideas in multiple ways as they are learning them. For example,
- Use discussion groups and reciprocal questioning
activities in which students move through the stages of
summarizing ideas, generating questions about the material,
clarifying comprehension of the material and predicting
or anticipating information to come.
- Have students create graphic representations
of information heard or read. Flow charts, for example,
can represent procedural concepts such as steps for a bill
to become a law and photosynthesis; tables can be used to
compare and contrast concepts learned during classroom instruction,
etc.
- When teaching students how to create and
organize graphics such as concept maps and diagrams, begin
with content that they are already familiar with and can
use independently, so they are able to attend to the details
of the strategy. Then gradually have them create graphics
for new content as they are learning it.
- Have students make their own concept maps
and/or outlines on a weekly basis, linking new material
to what they've learned. These maps should be kept in a
folder and used for by students when studying for future
tests.
- Activate associations by having students
attach visualizations or mental images to information they
are learning. Teach students how to create analogies that
help build associations between concepts in their minds.
- Arrange activities that allow students
to exercise their active working memory "muscles".
For example,
- Have students do mental math computations.
Put them in the context of a real situation, such as going
to the movies or carpeting a room.
- Teach estimation strategies. Practice
estimation as both a step in verifying the logic of performed
calculations and as a practical mental math tool. Begin
with problems that are easy for the student to calculate
and are meaningful to the student's life.
- Give students a list and ask them to give
it back in reverse order. Use numbers, words, visuals (shapes,
figures), etc. Provide and require practice using both written
and oral lists.
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