Chapter 3
Independent Learning Skills
Preparation for the Individual Report
The Individual Report
• 35% of your grade for the year.
• You will investigate a global issue from one of 22 topics.
• The issue should be one that either:
• raises an ethical dilemma about what is right or wrong;
• causes conflict, damage, difficulty or hardship;
• or simply leads to disagreement.
The Individual Report
• You need to find different perspectives on the issue: arguments that reach
different conclusions and come from different people, groups or nations.
• Based on a bit of initial research, you will then make a research question.
• Your conclusion will be:
• an answer to your research question
• and how your personal views have changed as a result of your research.
• Word count: 1,500 – 2,000 words.
The Individual Report
• We will begin working on this coursework in class.
• But first, we will develop our Independent Learning Skills!
3.01 - Memory
• Understand the importance of memory skills.
• Develop your memory skills.
• Explain to others how to develop memory skills.
Physical or Virtual?
If the brain is like a computer, is your memory physical (something you can touch)
or virtual (like a computer programme)?
• When you remember something (recall a memory), it’s virtual.
• However, the memory is physically stored in a part of your brain.
New
memories!
Learning & Memory
How are learning & memory connected?
- Memory is where you store what you learn!
- Without memory, you can’t store information to recall it later.
- The more you recall a piece of information, the easier it is to remember.
That’s what learning is! Learn > Recall > Use
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Improving Your Memory
Just like how exercise improves your physical strength, there are ways to
improve your memory.
What tricks can you use to remember something?
• Mnemonics:
“My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles”
“Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
• Music: Singing the alphabet to remember it as a child.
Activity 3.20
Visual Aids for Memory
If you can improve your memory, it will improve your learning! Let’s try now:
Look at the image on page 145 related to the topic of ‘Education for All’.
1. What issue(s) does the picture make you think about?
2. Why has this picture been chosen to represent issues from this topic?
3. Is this picture a good visual aid for remembering these issues?
Explain why/why not.
Short-Term to Long-Term
Generally, there are two kinds of memory:
1. Your short-term memory which lasts for 30 seconds and can hold around
7 distinct pieces of information.
2. Your long-term memory which lasts for your lifetime and has a potentially
limitless capacity – it can’t get full!
To get to the long-term memory, information has to survive the short-term
memory. Otherwise, it will be forgotten.
Recall & use information to pass it on the long-term memory!
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Short-Term to Long-Term
A trick you can use to improve your short-term memory is chunking.
When reading, don’t i s o l a t e words. Instead, group them into chunks:
To understand this sentence, you have to hold on to the beginning
while reading the rest.
Instead of storing 16 words, now you’re storing 2 chunks: much easier for
your short-term memory to hold on to!
When reading arguments, this is very important in making sure you understand
their points!
Making Connections
Memories are based on connections between ideas.
The more connections one idea has with other ideas, the easier it is to remember.
We can use connectivity to better understand relationships between different ideas.
Let’s try this now with a spider diagram:
1. Activity 3.21 – Identify the issue in the text titled ‘Education Is For All’.
Identify the purpose of the text.
2. Activity 3.22 – Identify the trend in text.
3. Use a spider diagram with the issue as the centre topic and connect new ideas to it.
What is the new emergency services number?
Reflection
1. How is memory connected to learning?
2. Identify 3 methods to improve your memory skills.
3. How do short-term memories become long-term memories?
4. Which method for improving memory do you think works best for you?
5. How can these methods help you when you’re researching the issue for
your Individual Report?
Tasks
Memory Notes
Submit any notes you made during class based on discussions or the lesson slides.
Due today.
Memory Activities
Submit your work for activities 3.20, 3.21, 3.22 and the reflection.
Due Monday 25th.