The challenge of helping students learn is great enough. However, helping them to move their learning from short-term, or working, memory to long-term memory is no less important. We accomplish little if students retain their learning only long enough to respond to our questions or perform on a near-term assessment.
The process of storing new learning and having it available for later recall is not automatic. Most of us have had the experience of our students seeming to grasp a key concept or important content only to discover later that they cannot recall or use what they have learned. We can find ourselves having to reteach or at least engage in extended review before students are ready to learn what comes next.
Fortunately, there are several strategies we can employ to increase the likelihood that what students learn will be retained once we move on to other topics and skills. Here are eight instructional practices to consider and apply.
Make it meaningful. It may seem obvious, but it is important for students to understand why what they are learning is important, useful, or meaningful. Purpose creates value in learning. We can give students examples of how what they are learning can make them more powerful, influential, or successful. The more students see value in what they learn, the easier and more likely it is that they will store it in long-term memory.
Commence with concepts. Beginning our instruction by helping students to see the big picture or learning key concepts can help students make sense of the elements and details that will complete their learning. Facts are easier to learn and recall when they fit within the context of something students already understand. Much like assembling a puzzle, when we have a picture to follow, placing pieces where they belong becomes easier.
Engage emotions. Emotions play a much more influential role in learning and recall than we might imagine. The presence of emotion often accounts for why we remember certain events or people from long ago in elaborate detail and struggle to recall something that happened only a few days ago or the name of someone we just met. Interestingly, emotions do not have to be positive to have a learning impact. It is their presence that makes the difference. We might tap students’ sense of compassion, insistence on justice, or passion for the latest trend. Introducing new content with a story that tugs at emotions, sharing an emotionally compelling experience, or setting up a conflict to be resolved can be good places to start.
Stimulate the senses. Our senses can have a powerful impact on our recall of experiences, including learning. The neurons in our brains process multiple types of stimuli simultaneously. We might ask students to rely heavily on what we tell and show them as they are learning, but their brains also store what students touch, smell, and taste. In fact, the more senses that are engaged during learning, the more likely the experience will be remembered. We might explore ways to have students feel or visualize an object with a unique texture (slimy or prickly), introduce or imagine a distinctive scent (rotten eggs or cut grass), or taste or conjure a flavor (sour grapes or chocolate fudge) to enhance their learning recall.
Construct connections. New learning and later recall are heavily influenced by how what is learned relates to what students already know. Prior learning represents the “hooks” on which new learning depends. Taking time to review and activate prior learning makes the process of new learning easier and more efficient. The existence and strength of connections between what students already know and what they learn makes the transition to long-term memory faster and more efficient.
Accelerate applications. We can be tempted to wait until students have been introduced to a complete concept before having them practice and apply what they are learning. However, waiting risks students losing portions of what we teach before we are even finished with instruction. Instead, we might have students practice partial solutions, test initial understandings, or explore potential implications. We can think about the small steps, easy lifts, and confidence builders. The adage “use it or lose it” applies to learning from initial introduction through completion.
Activate associations. The brain functions much like a sophisticated network. We can help students to remember what they learn by tapping into existing knowledge and creating new links. As examples, we might emphasize aspects of what they are learning that are familiar, memorable, or relevant. We can introduce beneficial metaphors, useful similes, and compelling examples. We also might introduce and reinforce patterns in new content to help students connect details and see relationships. The more students make sense of what they are learning, the easier the process of storing it in long-term memory becomes.
Coach creativity. Something magical often happens when students can use something they have learned to create something meaningful, important, or valuable to them. Absorbing content and applying new learning are important activities and are necessary steps in the learning process. However, when students use what they have learned for their own purposes, the transition from working memory to long-term recall is accelerated and extended, often dramatically. There is a reason that the highest level of Bloom’s taxonomy urges creation!
Obviously, some of these strategies work better for some students and content areas than for others, and some of these strategies will feel more comfortable and useful to us than others. This is why it is important to have multiple options and approaches available for our use. It is also true that these eight approaches are not the only ways to help students move new learning from short-term to long-term memory. What other strategies would you add?
