Memory is a funny old thing.
It acts as our brain's magic portal to the past with something as simple as the smell of Impulse body spray/Lynx Africa (delete as appropriate) transporting us back to a cramped PE changing room circa 1999, foggy with the offending mist, and the eternal odour of rubber mats. But memory also plays tricks on us, forcing us to hunt for important documents we put down only a few hours ago, whose mysterious location we have inexplicably forgotten, when you're already running late (hint: try the fridge - that's where mine were.)
Last year, to aid me in my understanding of memory, I completed an experiment with my form group, the very obliging 7R (now 8R). In this experiment, I asked them to name as many of the 50 states of America as they could. We made it to (a not unimpressive!) 17 states. This is information they pulled from their Long Term Memory which they had absorbed in to their brains through prior learning and cultural osmosis. I then put a list of all 50 states on the board for 5 minutes and they stared determinedly at the list as a timer ticked by the seconds. Then we tried again and we made it to 23 states. Interestingly, many of the states listed in the second go were ones they had not listed in the first attempt. This was therefore New Learning.
The next day I asked them to complete the same activity again but we saw a reduction in our numbers; our first attempt saw 15 states and our second attempt saw 19. This is because they were trying to remember the New Learning I had showed them the day before - they were no longer pulling information from Long Term Memory. The memory of New Learning is called Working Memory.
With Working Memory, if you don't retrieve it frequently, it is filtered away as unimportant by the brain and forgotten. It takes time for it to be converted to Long Term Memory.
In the coming weeks, 7R practice the 'States Game' as they called it. A month of weekly practice saw them recalling 34 states fairly easily. This frequent retrieval of their Working Memory ensured that it became Long Term memory. As we moved in to the final months of the academic year, we practised reciting the states in alphabetical order - recalling became quicker as a result and by the end of the year many of the class could recite all 50 states in alphabetical order in under 2 minutes.
At the start of year 8, we had another go. 6 weeks of no retrieval meant that we were rusty and we got to a mere 26 states in 2 minutes.
What this experiment taught me is that learning is never 'completed'. It can always be forgotten or misremembered (like the student who was convinced that New Orleans was a state, not New Hampshire) Even if a student can master a subject and obtain full marks in a mock, if they don't continually revisit it, they'll forget it. Essentially, Long Term Memory is a muscle and Retrieval Practice is the dumb-bell that helps strengthen it.
Long Term Memory development is vital to learning. Multiple studies in cognitive psychology are united on this. "Learning is defined as a change in Long Term Memory," states Kirschner, Sweller and Clarke in their 2006 study and Deans For Impact, an excellent CPD resource for teachers, agrees, remarking that for learning to happen, Working Memory must be transferred to Long Term Memory.
Willingham's 2009 model for learning using Long Term Memory development, (as seen in the image above) helps us to see how Long Term Memory relies on a repeated pattern of remembrance. A student recalls information and holds it in their brain and then stores it in Long Term Memory. This pattern and ability to commit to Long Term Memory becomes easier the more frequently a student recalls the information. Without recall, it is forgotten. Willingham warns of cognitive overload, however, stating that it is easier to remember smaller pieces of New Learning and build on them with frequent retrieval practise with New Learning added each lesson and then stored rather than overloading students with all of the information in one session and then expecting them to recall it all.
Retrieval strategies are a useful tool for all teachers to have in their arsenal and are easy to build in to their teaching practice. As part of Douay's Quality First Teaching Principals, good retrieval strategies would call under assessment and feedback, challenge for all and active learning as well as adaptation so it is well worth embedding retrieval practise in to every lesson. It can be used at multiple points throughout the lesson but is ideally placed within the starter activity of your lesson to recall prior learning and also identify areas of misconception and misunderstanding, enabling you to undo errors in understanding before it is committed to Long Term Memory.
Below are a range of retrieval practise strategies from the Teaching and Learning Coaches to inspire you.
From Maria Garrido (do see her email with further strategies)
Cops and Robbers
Students work independently as 'cops' to see what they can recall, then work with a partner or group to 'rob' information they forgot.
12 for 12
Students have 12 minutes to remember as much as they can about 12 key words.
Summary Grid
A quick and easy way to see what can be remembered about vocabulary, topics, formulas.
From Fatma Nasr
Mountain Climbing
A nice retrieval task for adaptation: place topics or key words in the boxes and ask students to recall what they know - nice and competitive - students have to recall more challenging topics as they climb higher up the mountain.
Traffic Lights
Adapted for ability and challenge - place vocabulary, topics, formula, equations in the boxes and ask students to work through what they can recall.
List It!
Similar to mountain climber - students recall adapted information in 4 minutes.
From Maeve Quinn
Links to prior learning
A colour coded retrieval grid that tracks learning throughout the module and shows students how they are building their knowledge.
From Pietro Marino
Chinese Box
Students begin with the topic in the centre and then work outwards, expanding their explanations and depth of what they can recall
From Catherine Caccaviello
- https://www.deansforimpact.org/
- Willingham, 2009: What Will Improve A Student's Memory? https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/willingham_0.pdf
- Paul A. Kirschner, John Sweller & Richard E. Clark (2006) Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching, Educational Psychologist, https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1
Interesting article. You have given me a few ideas to try out with learners in Design & Technology. Thanks for sharing.
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