Long-term memory is the system that maintains
knowledge, information and procedures permanently or over extended
periods. Consolidation occurs when information from short-term
or working memory is transferred into long-term memory and filed
for later use. Students with weak long-term memory consolidation
may have trouble organizing information into meaningful categories
or filing information in a meaningful way, thus impacting the
development of understanding.
Here are some techniques to help students enhance
their understanding through long-term memory strategies.
Helpful Hints
- Review previous lessons and relevant material
to trigger information
- Students can be prompted to process information
actively through the use of memory strategies as opposed to
processing information passively. For example, have students
write "memory plans" before studying for tests or
undertaking course work or activities that require a lot of
memory, particularly courses with a cumulative knowledge base
(i.e., what is learned in October will be important in May).
- Shift between multiple formats, such as auditory,
visual, and experiential, during instruction. Call students'
attention to format shifts. For example, "First I'm going
to show you a map of the country we will discuss. Look carefully
at the details. Then, we will talk about its important attributes."
Follow up on experiential learning activities (field trips,
guest speakers, hands-on activities, etc.) with organized discussion,
journal writing, class projects, etc. to help students consolidate
what they are learning.
- Model the use of techniques for organizing
and remembering information, such as rehearsal, elaboration,
and mnemonic strategies, during your instruction. For example,
recode information into your own words by paraphrasing and summarizing
throughout a lesson. Point out explicit connections between
a strategy and its value to learning and remembering. For example,
"Making a list of the geometric shapes we've covered before
doing the worksheet will help us remember the shapes and do
a good job on the worksheet."
- Create a study buddy system. Make use of peers
to help each student gain a complete understanding of directions
and "to be remembered" information. For example, set
up study pairs where students check their notes with each other
for accuracy before beginning an assignment or studying for
a test.
- Use episodic memory to enhance semantic
memory and vice versa. Give students direct experience with
a topic to build episodic memory then have students transfer
what they've learned into semantic memory. For example,
- Use physical movement, games, role-play
and hands-on learning to add a sensory element to the cognitive
activity. Adding a sensory element can enhance both storage
and retrieval.
- Relate learning materials to information
already stored in long-term memory. For example, when learning
about animals, have students talk about their pets, animals
at zoos, on TV, etc.
- Have students make up a story using key
concepts they are learning, e.g., a plant undergoing photosynthesis,
an adventure through a geometrically shaped house, a role-play
of a special time in history, etc. Such stories may help
provide a context for the concepts and create associations
in the students' minds for later retrieval.
- Follow up field trips and hands-on activities
with classroom activities for reinforcement, such as group
discussion, journal writing, etc.
- Give students practice applying their
knowledge to "real life" situations. Discuss with
students both how and when skills, information, etc. they
are learning are needed in real life.
- Promote students' use of strategies for learning,
remembering, and using information. Students with no strategy
use will require teacher induced strategies, however; it's best
to build upon student generated strategies when possible. Question
students about their problem solving habits, study habits, natural
modalities (e.g., do they picture things in their heads?), etc.
to guide strategy development.
- Provide students with a set of questions to
ask themselves while learning and studying to help promote their
own development of strategies. For example, What does this remind
me of? What can I associate with it? Can I picture it in my
mind? What pops into my head? How can I use these associations
to help me remember it? (Adapted from Devine, 1987).
- Expose students to the many types of
memory strategies effective in helping to learn and remember
information. Allow students to practice using different mnemonic
strategies, finding the strategies that are best suited to them.
For example,
- Subvocalization: Encourage students to
subvocalize (or whisper) important information as it comes
in or is read. Use group rehearsal. For example, "Softly
repeat each word as I give it to you before writing it down."
Incorporate visual imagery "scratch pads" into
the vocalizations. Students picture in their minds the words,
ideas, etc. as they vocalize. Teach students that vocalizing
is an important step in the mastery of new strategies.
- Rehearsal strategies: Teach effective
rehearsal techniques with direct instruction and model the
use of appropriate rehearsal as a memory strategy. For example,
when teaching a new spelling word, demonstrate saying the
letters aloud and writing them several times on the board.
Be sure students rehearse in a productive way. For example,
writing the entire word several times is much more meaningful
than listing one letter at a time down the page. Students
without independent strategies may require guidance in what
is most productive.
- Elaboration strategies: Teach students
how to add visual or verbal information to what is being
learned to create associations and provide a trigger for
later recall. For example, Letter-sound visual associations-
Picturing the letter f as the stem of a flower; Acrostic
elaborations, e.g., a strategy for the planets- "My
very excellent mother just sells nuts until Passover"
(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune,
Uranus, Pluto), to remember the resetting of clocks- "Spring
forward, Fall back", etc.; First letter, or acronym,
method, e.g., a strategy for the Great Lakes- HOMES (Huron,
Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior), a strategy for the colors
of a rainbow- ROYGBIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue,
Indigo, Violet), etc.
- Mental Imagery: Associating easy to remember
symbols with items to be remembered, such as - cherry tree/George
Washington, top hat/Lincoln, vacuum cleaner/Hoover; Creating
visual images (reconstructive elaboration)- picturing an
emperor with a robe and crown in your mind when learning
the meaning of the word 'czar'; and Creating visual images
for concepts, people, and entire ideas.
- To enhance your ability to teach strategies
effectively, use a checklist or helpful mnemonic, such as MIRRORS
(Adapted from Rafoth, 1993):
- Model strategy and explain how to carry
it out.
- Inform students when and how to use it.
- Remind them to use it.
- Repeat the strategy for practice.
- Outline why the strategy is useful.
- Reassess students' performance when using
the strategy.
- Stress the generalization of the
strategy to other appropriate activities, content areas,
settings (other classrooms and at home) and over time. (Provide
opportunities for students to practice using a strategy
under these different conditions.)
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