Can Memory be Improved by Recall Strategies in Lessons?
Can memory be improved by recall strategies in Philosophy lessons?
Students in Philosophy struggle with the amount of content they need to learn and some find it overwhelming. When students become overwhelmed with the content, some will disengage, believing they cannot learn it all. I am interested in finding ways to facilitate all students in becoming more confident in their ability to learn and recall key content so that they are more likely to reach or exceed their predicted grades. I am trialling a particular strategy which involves replicating what students will be asked to do in their exam, but on a smaller scale. At the beginning of every lesson students have a learning mat with various questions containing random selection of questions from any of the topics covered in their A level studies. Students have ten minutes to complete as much as they can. They then have an additional five minutes to look up anything, and may add to their answers in a different colour. We will then talk through the answers as a class. Each student will answer one question of their choice. I will be assessing the success of this strategy by asking students whether they have found it helpful, and also by comparing their results to student results in 2019.
References
Herman Ebbinghaus: Memory: A contribution to Experimental Psychology (1885)
Matthew Syed: Bounce – The myth of talent and the power of practice (2010)
Fiona Smith (Research Champion; fiona.smith@suffolkone.ac.uk)
