Teach Secondary 13.7

REMEMBER ITWELL Gordon Cairns looks at what schools can do to develop that most fundamental of revision skills – the ability to memorise M ore and more, neuroscientists are concerned about the impact of adults’ smartphone dependency on our ability to remember things. Whether it’s using GPS to steer ourselves to places we’ve visited many times before, resorting to Google to solve the most inane workplace disagreements or the constant ‘newmessage’ pings in the background that distract us while we’re trying to absorb new information, the introduction of smartphones into our daily lives does seem to have had a detrimental effect on our ability to recall information from the back of our mind. Pity, then, the digital natives – those students (and maybe even some younger colleagues) who have never had to rely solely on their powers of recall. Instead, there’s always been a device readily at hand to do much of the heavy lifting that their memory really ought to be doing for them. It certainly seems as though the generations – those aged below 50, perhaps – who need to use their memory most are the least equipped to do so. Even so, not all is lost. We can teach our students memorisation techniques which will not only help in the short-term during the academic year and exam season, but also longer-term in hopefully helping delay the onset of dementia. Pens versus screens Perhaps unsurprisingly, these memorisation techniques require that we turn away from digital technologies and towards more basic forms of data entry. The humble paper and pencil can be put to use in any number of ways to recalibrate grey matter struggling to remember Diophantine equations or Othello’s soliloquies. Indeed, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology published a study earlier this year, indicating that brain connectivity is actually greater when a person is writing by hand, rather than typing on a keyboard (see tiny.cc/ ts137-M1). The researchers, led by Professor Audrey van der Given that we’re in an era whenmany students will now use electronic devices to type notes during class time, the Norwegian researchers recommend that students are instead encouraged to record such notes by hand. They even go so far as to suggest that schools offer classes in handwriting instruction, so that students can be taught how to write quickly and clearly. It’s worth noting here that cursive writing training has already been reintroduced to many American states since the start of this year, specifically to help improve students’ powers of recall. brain is at rest, consolidating said memories and thus making it easier to retrieve them. Conversely, this process won’t occur if the information is studied the following morning, while the brain is actively preparing for the day ahead. Encouraging your students to get enough shut-eye more generally will also help to boost their memorisation skills significantly. Brains that are sleep-deprived functionmore poorly than those that are well-rested, especially when it comes to “Readingovernotes just before going tobedhelps the brain retain information” Meer, discovered that connectivity between different brain regions is more elaborate when letters are formed by a hand holding some form of writing implement. Furthermore, it’s known this connectivity is crucial for memory formation and encoding new information – both of which, of course, are required for learning. If my own experience is anything to go by, your students will likely grumble at the idea of having to laboriously copy out onto paper information that they might have written down in class already. If, however, you explain to them that the purpose of the task is to help lodge the information more firmly in their memory , they will generally get on board. Speaking and sleeping Another useful strategy is for students to vocalise – i.e. say out loud – the concepts they’re trying to remember. While good for memory retention, this is perhaps best done at home, rather than in the classroom. All they’re likely to remember otherwise is the cacophony of themselves and their peers all shouting out facts at the same time... A less labour-intensive option involves the average teenager’s favourite pastime – sleeping. Studies have shown that reading over notes just before going to bed helps the brain retain information. Newmemories are temporarily stored and then reactivated while the 28 teachwire.net/secondary