Memory and Learning. What teachers can do to support students who have deficits in working memory.

LONG TERM RETRIEVAL DEFICITS:

While a student might learn information adequately, they may nonetheless demonstrate difficulty retrieving it for use in future situations. Long term retrieval difficulties vary from each individual & depend on how the different types of information are presented. When a student experiences difficulty with retrieval of learned information, there are many things classroom teachers can try to support that student.

Accommodations:

• Limit the amount of information to be learned during an instructional session, giving the student fewer concepts or skills to retain at anyone time. Examples might be limiting the number of spelling words to learn for the week or number of definitions to memorize.
• Provide a cheat sheets for the student to reference in order to compensate for memory deficits. These might be taped to the students desk and should also be available at home.
• Allow the student to use a calculator during math computation in order to compensate for lack of recall of math fact
• Since the student might have difficulty recalling important information, allow the student access to a peer helper to provide information needed to solve a problem or assignment.

• Allow the student to take open book tests where information can be found to respond to test items.
• Employ test formats that require recognition (multiple choice, matching, true/false and fill in the blank with an associated word bank) in favor of test formats that require recall (essay, fill in the blank without a word bank, writing definitions).
• Allow the student free access to ask questions should she or he forget information. Encourage the student to ask questions. grading, emphasize concepts understood instead of memory for rote information (e.g., less important names, dates, locations, terms, etc.).
• During instruction write information on the board to provide a source of external memory. 
• Provide written directions to supplement oral directions for a task.Provide a written list of tasks to be accomplished. In the case of tasks that require a sequence of steps, provide a written copy for the student to refer to. Such information might be written on an index card and taped to the students desk as a reminder
• After directions are given in class, check to insure that the student has retained sufficient information to work independently.
• Limit the length of oral directions and state directions in the order in which the student is expected to complete them.
• Provide a daily planner in which the student is instructed to write homework and long term assignments down as soon as they are assigned. It may be necessary to check accuracy of this information
•  A study buddy might be of help in this regard.

Instructional strategies/methods

Before introducing a new concept or skill, activate prior knowledge to enhance understanding. Prior knowledge can be activated by:

1.) ASK questions about the topic being taught,

2.) SHARE personal experiences related to the topic,

3.) BRAINSTORM everything the student(s) knows about the topic,

4.) ASK the student to identify what the student still needs to learn about the subject matter, and asking the student to respond to opinion statements that prompt discussion regarding the topic (e.g., when discussing the defining characteristics of fruits and vegetables ask: What do you like best about spinach? About apples?, etc.).

Review rote information frequently. Expand time for rehearsal and practice by using peer tutors or teaching assistants to employ structured practice activities. Rehearsing information immediately after it is learned and intermittently thereafter will likely be helpful.

Employ multiple modalities (e.g., writing, speaking, listening, etc.) when the student rehearses rote information.

To teach rote information, employ formal academic interventions (e.g., cover, copy, compare) which use a high rate of opportunities to respond, high rate of success, immediate feedback and formal error correction procedures.

Prompt the student to take notes during instruction. Note taking strengthens recall ability and provides a hard copy of information to refer to later.

Help the student learn to break a long list of information into small parts or chunks of seven or fewer items. Encourage the student to master one small group before moving to the next.

Enhance meaningfulness by relating new concepts and information taught to experiences familiar to the student (e.g., describe steam formed in a shower on a cold day as an example of condensation). Encourage the student to cite more familiar examples.

Help the student use mnemonic devices to retain information. It will be important that the student initiate such efforts and realize the benefits that can be experienced from their use.

Following are some specific mnemonic strategies. 

• Repetition: The student rehearses information by orally repeating it or writing it several times. Rehearsal will be most beneficial if it occurs shortly after learning and occurs intermittently thereafter. 
• Acrostic: The student recalls a list of words or terms by forming a word using the first letters of the words to be remembered (e.g, HOMES to recall names of the Great Lakes).
• Acronym: The student forms a memorable (i.e., silly, outrageous, familiar) phrase or sentence using the first letters of the words or terms to be recalled (e.g., My waffle is under the new car to recall the seven mountain states of Montana, Wyoming, etc.).
• Method of Loci: This strategy involves the student imagining himself walking through a familiar location such as a bedroom or walking to school. The student imagines placing a term, word or element to be recalled in prominent locations along the route. When it is necessary to recall the information, the student mentally retraces the route. The mental image of the prominent locations along the route elicits the corresponding element to be recalled. 
• Learning Something New: The student learns more information about a term or vocabulary word. The association of new information with the term strengthens memory for the term. An example would be the student reading some information about a state capital to become more familiar with the city. 
• Visualization: The student forms a mental image associated with a term to be recalled (e.g., mental image of Native American squatting in a corn field to recall the name Squanto).