Posts
It is odd that the most efficient way to retain information is not to write it, hear it, say it, draw it or any combination of these actions. The most efficient way to retain information is to teach it. Being actively engaged in the activity (doing it!) is the second most efficient way of retaining a concept or information, but the ability to, not only do it, but actually explain it systematically well enough to teach it to others is tough. After doing this, one has a much better grasp of the concept, and at such a deep level that it will be retained for much longer than any other method.
It seems ironic that many classrooms do not even have their students "engaged". They have students taking notes, completing worksheets, doing cookie-cutter recipe labs, or watching videos. There has been a major movement to get students actively involved, and this is great, but it is still one step short of the optimum experience.
Why is the only person in the classroom that is learning the material in the most efficient way, the only one that is NOT held accountable for learning it (the Teacher). We remember it easily and it makes great sense to us, therefore we are frustrated because the students do not "get it" at the level that we do. Give them a break! They are at a disadvantage. You are hogging the best strategy all for yourself.
CHALLENGE: Put students in a position to have to TEACH the information. They will retain the content and concepts at a much higher level. Also, they will be begging you for assistance, rather than resisting your insistence.
This is just my 2-cents. Please let me know your thoughts.
Oliver Schinkten
oliver.schinkten@oshkosh.k12.wi.us
Twitter: @schink10
This is a fact that things can be retained through teaching. How could a student be put on teaching who himself is a learner. What about the students whom he is going to teach.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I agree this is a dilemma, but I think there are creative ways to do it. If students learn basic knowledge about something, but complete a self-directed extension of that learning, they can come back and teach their peers how they used the information.
DeleteI also think that a roll-down model of having students from the University level down to high school to middle school to elementary school would work. I think that the ability to speak to a different audience goes underrated. I have often had middle school students write a "children's book" on different topics (such as photosynthesis) and they have a difficult time, because they have not processed the information and understood it at a deep enough level yet. The ones who succeed at this, truly understand it.
I am not sure of the exact solution, but I think there are people out there who are probably using great methods of doing this.
Thank you for your insight!!!
I work with college students, and since college professors, regrettably, do most of their assessment via multiple-choice exams, I develop learning groups in which each student is required to make up five multiple-choice questions after each lecture and be able to explain the correct answers. I then compile the questions, meet with the group (usually no more than four), and have them go through the entire set with each student explaining to the others how/why he or she came up with the questions from the lecture. Hence, they teach (or reteach) each other and get practice with the kind of assessment they will face (hardly my favorite form).
ReplyDelete