Deep Processing and Retrieval strategies to help children remember their lessons

As teachers, we may have seen cases where children seem to forget their lessons. It is not uncommon to see children forget their lessons or be confused, a few days after it is taught. This could happen even after some practice problems have been done. What could make lessons stick in children's mind?

To understand this problem better, it would help to know how memory works. Psychologists have come up with different memory models based on what best corroborates with their research. Be it the Atkinson-Shiffrin 'multistore model' or the Craik and Lockhart 'Levels of Processing model', it is clear that information coming into our memory is retained for a longer time only if we engage meaningfully with the information. The act of analyzing information, comparing or associating it with existing knowledge, thinking about its application strengthens the synaptic connections in the neural networks. This kind of engagement with information at hand is called Deep processing.

Deep processing strategies go a long way in helping children remember their lessons. Well designed content apply this strategy meaningfully by presenting information in different formats to help children think about a concept in multiple ways. However, teachers can contribute to deep processing to ensure conscious grasp and retention of concepts by children. Here are some strategies that teachers can employ to help children achieve deep processing.

1. Connect new information to something children already know. This creates associations in their brain for the information to persist. For e.g., if you are teaching decimals show how each place value differs from the next by a factor of 10. This can be shown using base 10 blocks too. Convert from fractions to decimals and draw parallels between the two concepts.
2. Make distinctions between concepts being studied. While teaching ratios you can elaborate on how they differ from fractions.
3. Encourage children to ask 'why'. This increases your chance to elaborate and explore the material at hand. Why is our number system base 10? or Why are there 60 seconds in a minute?
4. Help children build concept maps or identify mnemonics. Certain material like conversion of units in measurement is easily remembered using mnemonics. Other material like different terminologies in commercial math and their interconnections can be easily remembered through concept maps.
5. Conceptual and procedural knowledge do not always follow a linear path. A child will benefit from instruction in both the formats in a nonlinear fashion. You can introduce the concept of fraction addition, do some practice problems and again elaborate on the concept. This way they can build on the knowledge of both instructions.

Deep processing is all about encoding information in the child's neural networks. The synaptic connections deteriorate rapidly unless they are frequently retrieved and strengthened. Some strategies to help retrieval are:

1. Teach students to over-learn material. Practising often will help them remember the lesson.
2. Initially use cheat sheets or summary sheets to help children recall the material until they are confident enough to recall on their own. This helps with algebra formulas or different ways to find HCF and LCM of numbers.
3. Give frequent tests. Testing improves learning by enabling retrieval. The more they practice, the better pathways develop and it becomes easy to arrive at the answer.
4. Try to interleave concepts in a test. When concepts are mixed, children will think harder to understand and apply the right solution.

In conclusion, deep processing and frequent revision are required to help children remember their lessons. The motivation to deep process comes by having a genuine interest in learning. Until this develops in a child, a teacher can always scaffold students learning through these strategies.