Instructional Principle: Memorizing can help students absorb and retain factual information on which understanding and critical thought are based. Students who recall information rapidly and easily have an edge in studying most subjects.
This principle does not contradict the notion that there is much more to education than rote memorization or that extreme emphasis on memorizing can be a demoralizing experience. Memorizing does simplify the process of recalling information, however, and allows the student to use information automatically. Higher-order skills can build upon lower-order skills that have become automatic. The value of memory enhancement and the application of memorization skills to learning can be found in Bellezza (1981) and Rosenshine (1983).
By providing repeated practice and feedback, computerized drills and educational games play an obviously important role in helping students to recall factual information. Moreover, several programs are designed specifically to teach students to develop generalized skills at recalling information. Sunburst, for example, has published a series of programs called K-12 Memory that help students develop various strategies for recalling items and information. Figure 3.7 presents a screen from Was It There?, whichhelps students develop memory skills by recalling objects and parts of objects. Figure 3.8 shows a screen from Memory Castle, which helps students recall a series of events in the proper sequence. Students will develop memory skills most effectively if they run these programs and then apply their newly acquired skills throughout their regular curriculum and during their daily activities. (Get some new ones for this paragraph!).
Funbrain has a Memory Game online, which is a variation of the old Concentration card game.
In addition, many programs take deliberate steps to help students remember what they have learned - often by supplying mnemonic strategies or by making it extremely likely that students will interact with the information actively and meaninfully. Figure 3.9a shows a screen from the Get A Clue Vocabulary Development Series.
Figure 3.9a. The first screen in the Get a Clue sequence designed to help students learn the meaning of the word tantalize.
The purpose of this first screen is to activate prior knowledge (phase 3 in Gagne's phases of learning) and to provide a meaningful context, which is likely to lead to generative learning. While reading this introductory screen, the student is encouraged to try to guess the meaning of the word in Figure 3.9b.
Figure 3.9b. The second screen in the Get a Clue sequence designed to help students learn the meaning of the word tantalize.
The student is allowed to seek clues about the meaning of the word. The studenet can request up to five clues, which do the following:
The purpose of these clues is to enable the learner to think about the words in a meaningful (rather than rote) context. Finally, the computer gives the student a complete and accurate definition of the word (Figure 3.9c).
Figure 3.9c. The final screen in the Get a Clue sequence designed to help students learn the meaning of the word tantalize.
Note that it is not necessary for students to have a computer in order to learn words in this way. Successful vocabulary learners have always thought about new words in this way. The computer simply uses its capacity to isolate information and to give feedback in a way that enables students to retrieve relevant information, perceive the important elements of that information correctly, and encode the information in their long-term memories for future retrieval. The result is successful generative learning - and a high probability of long-term recall and the ability to transfer the information to other settings when it is needed.
Memory Skills
Neopets
http://www.neopets.com/games/
Several of the games at this web site focus on developing memory and logic skills.
Memory Techniques and Mnemonics
http://psychwww.com/mtsite/memory.html
A general introduction to the topic with numerous good examples.
Brainboosters
http://school.discovery.com/brainboosters/
Daily brain games from The Discovery Channel Online.
The Memory Page
http://www.premiumhealth.com/memory/
This web site presents a large amount of genuinely good information about human memory and how to improve it.
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