Learning strategies in the classroom by Tim Seifert (1993), MUN
Retrieved January 9, 2008 from:
http://www.mun.ca/educ/faculty/mwatch/vol2/seifert.html
Notes by Dr. D. Gosse, Nipissing University
Several criteria must be met in order for learning to occur, according to cognitive
theories:
 Students must attend to the information to be learned
 Students must identify or create relationships among the –to-be-learned ideas
 Students must relate the new ideas to prior knowledge
 Student must understand that learning requires mental effort—good learners are
strategic, poor learners are not
Seifert identifies several strategies to enhance memory and comprehension that are usable
in most all study areas. Furthermore, these strategies are proven to enhance performance
of students requiring remedial assistance across a wide spectrum of variables (such as age
and SES):
Representational Imagery: can be used to remember facts (e.g. adolescent learners
experience growth spurts and may feel awkward at times) and with extended prose (e.g.
In Ancient Greece, King Pygmalion longer for a companion. He created a beautiful statue
that encompassed all the feminine ideals of his time…” Older student in particular have
been shown to benefit from this type of imagery training. Imagery may work due to two
reasons in dual coding theory. First, we use a verbal system for representing and thinking
about language. Second, we also use a non-verbal, largely visual system for processing
information. By including illustrations with texts, elaborating on illustrations, or creating
illustrations with texts or explanations, then both systems are activated and learning may
be enhanced.
There are two steps in mental imagery:
 Read the information to be remembered
 Make a picture of that information in your head
Elaborative interrogation: involves reading a fact to be remembered and then asking
Why would that be true? Then try to generate an answer.
e.g. “Cognitive theories of learning and comprehension enhance may student
success … why is this true?...Cognitive theories of learning and comprehension
enhance learning for several reasons. First, student must attend to the new
information to be learned. Second, they must create links between the new
information to be learned. Third, they must relate the new information to prior
knowledge. Finally, they make mental effort and must be strategic.
For example, theme is the main idea, lesson, or moral is a short story, poem or
novel. The theme of Dangerous Minds might be “Believe in your students and
they may surprise you.” To get students to relate this to pay heed to this we might
(1) watch a video clip from movies, (2) to get them to create links and relate to
1
their prior knowledge, I may then ask them to reflect on their own experiences
growing up and also on an inspiring teacher-student movie. Then they write a
reflective paragraph.”
The steps for elaborative interrogation are:
 Read the fact to be remembered
 Turn the fact into a question
 Answer the why question
Acronyms: a series of letters that spell a word (or something like a word) with each letter
representing another word. For example, OCT mean the Ontario College of Teachers,
OSSTF means the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ federation, and OASAR mean
the Ontario Association for Students at Risk...another example I use if a phonetic
variation on the German word for cheese to remember the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy
i.e. KCAASE for knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation. A variation of acronyms is the acronymic sentence. Again, in order to
remember Bloom’s Taxonomy, try: Kind Children Always Allow Smiles and
Enthusiasm.
Acronyms work because they reduce a lot of information into more manageable chunks.
Also, they help us organize information in meaningful ways. To create an acronymic
sentence, follow these steps:
 List the names of words
 Make a list of the first letter of each name of word
 Create words that start with those letters and try to arrange them into a sentence
 Ensure the sentence make sense
 Practice remembering what the 1st letter of each words represents
Keyword method: useful learning and remembering scientific words, foreign
vocabulary, and associating an object with its attributes. Follow these steps:
 Identify the to-be-learned pair
 Think of a familial word that sound similar
 Create an image that depicts the new familiar keyword with meaning, definition,
or attribute
 Practice remembering the words, meaning, definition, or object-sttribute by
recalling the image
e.g. to remember the meaning of the Pygmalion theory, you might picture a muddy,
farm animal pig who gets a makeover into Miss Piggy….thereby, remembering that
the Pygmalion Theory entails transformation through expectations into something
new and improved.
e.g. to remember hidden curriculum, you might picture school children digging up a
treasure chest. Once opened, words such as racism, homophobia, sexism, control and
prejudice float away from the chest. Hidden Curriculum then may be remembered as
not the official curriculum documents, rules and routine of the classroom and school,
2
but rather the unofficial agenda, rules and routines that occur in the hallways and may
be often unspoken, invisible, or under-acknowledged.
Summarizing: can enhance memory for main ideas contained in prose. Students must
read a passage and then write a sentence that describes what the prose was about.
Summarizing works because it induces students attend to and create linkages between
main concepts and ideas. Students must follow these steps:
 Read the passage
 Identify the main idea or ideas
 Write a sentence that describes the main idea or ideas in your own words
 Combine summary sentences from paragraphs to form a section or chapter
summary
e.g. consult your Class Notes on Differentiating Instruction. Create a one sentence
summary of these notes, such as “Differentiated learning involves attempting to vary
instructional strategies/learning activities in order to appeal to the diverse learning in
your classes, entailing creating a nurturing learning environment and climate, using a
variety of assessment and evaluation tools, incorporating MI, and experimenting with
various groupings.”
Concept mapping (also called webbing, mind mapping, or creating visual
organizers): can help students understand complex ideas and prose, and may be used
in any subject , including science, English, math, and physical education. Concept
mapping works because it requires students to identify main ideas and link these
together in an organized way. These linkages are then represented visually, which
further enhances memory. Student must follow these steps:
 Read the passage
 Identify main concepts
 Arrange them according to how they relate to each other
 Draws lines or arrows to show linkages
 You may label the lines if you wish
e.g. Double Bubble Map for Comparison
3
Teacher behaviour: teachers must be purposeful in how they design their lessons and
guide students to use these metacognitive strategies or techniques. There are three ways
to do this:
a) Teacher provides the content is a form that promotes strategic processing.
For instance, the teacher provides illustrations to promote imagery training,
suggests an acronym, or uses elaborative interrogation as part of their questioning
repertoire.
b) Teacher provides assignments that require students to employ metacognitive
techniques. For instance, the teacher will have the consolidation/check for
learning and/or application activity to entail representational imagery, elaborative
interrogation, acronyms, the keyword method, summarizing, or concept mapping.
c) A more subtle way is through teacher comments. The teacher and prompt
students throughout the lecture component to engage in metacognitive strategies.
e.g. picture King Pygmalion in your head. He’s very lonely as he sculpts away.
Why did Aphrodite take pity on him? Think of the metaphor here for your own
teaching. Now picture a difficult student you’ve taught.
Student behaviour: students may become more strategic through direct instruction, selfinstruction and reciprocal instruction:
a) Direct instruction: explicitly teach these strategies to a student or students.
Explain the strategy to them and then get them to apply and practice it. Give
feedback and guidance.
b) Self-instruction: explanation, guided practice and independent practice.
However, self-instruction involves a think aloud process. The adult verbalizes
his/her process as she engages in one of these strategies, followed by the student
doing the same.
c) Reciprocal teaching: refers to small group instruction. The teacher and students
take turns explaining and modelling the strategies while trying to learn some new
content. The ongoing dialogue and feedback abets mastery of the strategies.
4