Lesson Plan
What role does the development of memory play in learning?
Objectives:
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1) Students will be able to summarize how working memory works.
2) Students will develop an understanding for the development of learning and learning methods.
3) Students will be able to identify the role memory plays in learning.
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Lesson:
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A) What are the Memory Capacities of the Audience? (Hook + Activity); – 4 min
- Hand each student a notecard and pencil, read off or display list of 18 words.
- Ask students to write down as many words as they can recall.
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B) Summary of Working Memory (Introduction); Source: (Cowan 197-200) – 2 min
- Definition of Working Memory
- Discuss how Working Memory and Long-Term Memory Work Together
- Working Memory and Long-Term Memory have limits, for students can only learn and remember so much.
C) Working Memory Capacity and Improving Memory (Lecture); (Cowan 204-06) (Paas et al. 191- 92) - 2 min
- How to improve the working memory capacity (Cowan 204-06).
Q: How large do you believe your memory capacity is? What other ways do you believe you can apply to improve your memory?
- Cognitive Load Schemas (Paas et al. 191-92).
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E) What is Learning? (Lecture); Sources: (Cowan 211) (Lipsitt 62) (Hall et al. 268) – 1 min
Q: How would you describe learning in your own words?
- Definition of Learning (Cowan 211) (Lipsitt 62).
- Difference between learning and retention (Hall et al. 268).
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F) Development of Working Memory(Lecture); Sources: (Sylva 189-90) (Cowan 197-211) – 4 min
- Sensory Motor Stage: Ages 0-2. Little to no high-ordered thinking. Pre-verbal development begins here.
-Pre-operational Stage: Ages 2-6. Children can now step back and notice the past, future, and notice themselves and their role.
- Concrete Stage: Age 6+. Learning concepts form more rapidly and the children are more aware of other people and their surroundings (Sylva 180-90).
- Memorization in children ages 0-4 (Cowan 197-211).
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G) Relationship of Memory and Learning Development (Lecture); Sources: (Cowan 197-211) (Siegel 974-78) (Lipsitt 65) - 4 min
- Working Memory + Learning in Reading
- Working Memory + Learning in Math (Siegel 974-78).
- Learning Differences in Infants to Learning Differences in Older Children (Lipsitt 65) (Siegel 974-78).
- Memory improves throughout childhood, although there is a gap between older children and adults.
- Children experts in one field are often better than beginner adults (Cowan 197-211).
H) Presenting Information in a Different Method (Activity); Source: (Cowan 206) - 4 min
- Most individuals cannot remember large chunks and lists of information; therefore, it can be inferred that presenting lists of words in smaller chunks will help students remember more.
- My Simple Study: Present a different list of 12 simple words and present them in groups of 4. Ask students to write down as many words as they can remember.
Q: What do these results mean? Does the method work? What methods might work instead?
I) Epilogue; Source: (Paas 192-193) – 1 min
- Elements that Effect and Impact Working Memory and Learning: Environment and Emotions
Materials:
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- notecards for activity
- pencils for activity
Powerpoint:
Annotated Bibliography
Cowan, Nelson. “Working Memory Underpins Cognitive Development, Learning, and Education.” JSTOR, Educational Psychology Review, 3 Dec. 2013, www.jstor.org/stable/43549792?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=development&searchText=of&searchText=memory&searchText=in&searchText=learning&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Ddevelopment%2Bof%2Bmemory%2Bin%2Blearning&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-4946%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3A3a5966aaa004d557d2d7c6eeb90b0389&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
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This article, written by Cowan, explains what working memory is and how it works with long term memory. After comparing the relationship, Cowan applies the information to the concept of learning. He explains how students retain certain concepts in education. This source clearly outlines information that will be of use to me for the lesson plan and for any potential upcoming experiments regarding learning techniques. After reading, I feel I have gained lots of background knowledge on how working memory works, learning works, and how they work together.
Hall, James W., et al. “Differences in Long-Term Retention in Relation to Early School Achievement.” The American Journal of Psychology, vol. 96, no. 2, 1983, pp. 267–87. JSTOR. www.jstor.org/stable/1422817?Search=yes&resultItemClick=True
&searchText=%22Differences+in+Long-Term+Retention+in+Relation+to+Early+School
+Achievement.%22&sea\rchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2522Di
fferences%2Bin%2BLong-Term%2BRetention%2Bin%2BRelation%2Bto%2BEarl
y%2BSchool%2BAchievement.%2522&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-4
631%2Ftest&refreqid=search%3A18fc61e677e078312095688b049f85ac&seq=1#metada
ta_info_tab_contents
Hall discusses child memory, but focuses in on memory as it is applied to learning and school. He then dives into an even more specific experiment comparing young students with young students who have a learning disability and are known to forget more often. This source will be helpful in research for my lesson plan, examining the relationship between memory and learning.
Lipsitt, Lewis P. “Learning and Memory in Infants.” Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 1,
1990, pp. 53–66. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23087413.pdf?ab_
segments=0%252Fbasic_SYC-4946%252Fcontrol&refreqid=excelsior%3A372cb98854f
3526a41ae899b5a145281.
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While this source does not directly apply to any of my research questions, it provides good context for the relationship of learning. For my lesson plan, I plan to examine how memory and learning work and develop in childhood. Therefore, by having a background of how learning develops at birth, I can develop an answer to my research question across a broader age range.
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Paas, Fred, and Paul Ayres. “Cognitive Load Theory: A Broader View on the Role of Memory in Learning and Education.” Educational Psychology Review, vol. 26, no. 2, 2014, pp. 191–95. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43549791?Search=yes&resultItemClick=
true&searchText=Cognitive&searchText=Load&searchText=Theory%3A&searchText
=A&searchText=Broader&searchText=View&searchText=on&searchText=the&searchTe
xt=Role&searchText=of&searchText=Memory&searchText=in&searchText=Learning&s
earchText=and&searchText=Education&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQ
uery%3DCognitive%2BLoad%2BTheory%253A%2BA%2BBroader%2BView%2Bon%
2Bthe%2BRole%2Bof%2BMemory%2Bin%2BLearning%2Band%2BEducation%26amp
%3Bfilter%3D&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-4946%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3A
c4307c13c8849f20483f605c5dda9148&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
This article, written by Fred Paas and Paul Ayres, discusses the limitations of working memory. This information is critical for application to learning. In other words, since memory has capacity limitations, learning has its limitations. Having an answer for why children have difficulty retaining excessive amounts of information.
Siegel, Linda S., and Ellen B. Ryan. “The Development of Working Memory in Normally Achieving and Subtypes of Learning Disabled Children.” Child Development, vol. 60, no. 4, 1989, pp. 973–980. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1131037?Search=yes&result
ItemClick=true&searchText=development&searchText=of&searchText=memory&searc
Text=in&searchText=learning&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3
development%2Bof%2Bmemory%2Bin%2Blearning&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-
946%2Fcontrol&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
This source would be helpful in answering my third research question examining the relationship between childhood memory and learning. Seigel and Ellen compare the working memory of learning disbaled children and “normal” children. By comparing different children of learning types, the development of learning and memory can be examined further.
Sylva, Kathy, “Critical periods in childhood learning.” British Medical Bulletin, Vol. 53, January 1997, pp. 185–197, doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a011599.
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While I did not use the majority of the information in this article, the page outlining Piaget’s theories of the critical periods of childhood were of interest. Sylva explains that Piaget claimed that there were four critical periods throughout the time of birth and after age 6. When discussing my question of the development of memory and learning, it would be interesting to use the critical periods as a timeline for development.