“Brain-Based Teaching Strategies for Improving Students’ Memory, Learning, and Test-Taking Success“
The first article I located was by Judy Willis. The quote that resounded with me was …
“Event memories … are tied to specific emotionally or physically charged events (strong sensory input) and by the emotional intensity of the events to which they are linked. Because the dramatic event powers its way through the neural pathways of the emotionally preactivated limbic system into memory storage, associated scholastic information gets pulled along with it. Recollection of the academic material occurs when the emotionally significant event comes to mind, unconsciously or consciously. To remember the lesson, students can cue up the dramatic event to which it is linked.” (Willis, para. 34).
From experience, when I do an activity or show a video that evokes some type of feeling from my students, they have a tendency to remember it. One of the hardest concepts to teach to high school students is how to price a product. The unit starts with the lecture, notes, and discussion; there are a few mathematics activities to assist in gaining knowledge. The lesson that solidifies the knowledge is when I have the students create a sandwich they would want to sell. They are given a list of costs for each item they used to create the sandwich and/or meal they would sell and the fixed costs for the business. They need to run through the math and find out if they would make a profit based on what they decide to charge for the sandwich/meal. In six years of this activity, only one student made a profit, because they charge $15 for the meal they created (sandwich, chips and drink). Everyone else feels bad about charging more than $2 or $3 for their sandwich and lands deep in debt. There is an “aha” moment that occurs, because they liked their sandwich and felt their price was fair..
Information Processing Theory Flashcards
This web site is definitely set up so everyone can successfully understand the history and basics of Information Processing Theory. There are flash cards at the top (middle) of the page that you can flip through one at a time. As you scroll down the page, there is a list of all 44 terms and their definitions with an audio icon next to each so you can hear someone else read through them, if necessary. As someone who likes to see and hear information in multiple ways, I will probably be using this site during my current course at Walden.
Resources
Willis, J. (2007). Brain-based teaching strategies for improving students’ memory, learning, and test-taking success. Childhood Education, 83(5).
Quizlet. Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner Information Processing Theories. http://quizlet.com/9181899/piaget-vygotsky-bruner-information-processing-theories-flash-cards/.