Marnie Malacara Jane Camilletti
Mary Chudej Marie LaChance
Melissa Toner
•Learning is the process by which we acquire new knowledge and skills.
•Memory is the process by which we retain the knowledge and skills for
the future.
•Memory and learning are therefore inextricably linked.
•The brain goes through physical and chemical changes when it stores
new information as the result of learning.
•Short term memory includes both immediate memory and working
memory.
•Immediate memory which only lasts seconds involves 3 processes that
decide which sensory information coming in from the environment
goes to short term memory.
•These processes include:
•Perception – brain attaches meaning.
•Expectation – what the brain expects to see.
•Attention – focused on anything the brain finds new and exciting,
pleasurable or threatening.
WORKING
MEMORY
SHORT-TERM
MEMORY
Brain Compatible
Learning/Connecting
Link/2009
Model for Information Processing
LONG-TERM
MEMORY
4
•Short term/Working memory is a temporary memory and the place
where you are consciously processing information.
•Short term/Working memory can last anywhere from 18 seconds to 20
minutes based on chronological age and development.
•Long term memory has the capacity for infinite storage of information
if transferred efficiently and effectively.
•When both sense and meaning are part of learning, the likelihood is
high that it will be stored in long-term memory.
M-Space
(Plus or minus 2)
& Time Limits by Age Group
15
13
10-20 min.
11
5-10 min.
9
7
5
Based on Pascual-Leone’s
Structural Mental Capacity theory.
Brain Compatible
Learning/Connecting
Link/2009
Model for Information Processing
6
•Rehearsal or sub vocalization is repeating information over and over to
facilitate recall i.e. numbers, oral or written information.
•Chunking is reducing or condensing information to smaller units i.e.
Mnemonics, Acronyms, and grouping numbers.
•Visualization is adding imagery such as pictures, diagrams or symbols to
help us recall and retrieve information more easily.
•SQ3R is surveying, questioning, reading, reciting and reviewing
information. This is best done with another student (s) or adult to
increase comprehension of recently learned information.
Compiled by Ken Zajac Student Success Services University of Wyoming
Study Skills & Strategies
Interest – In order to remember something thoroughly, you
must be interested in it. You must have a reason to learn it.
Ways to create interest in a class:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Find a good study partner.
Get to know the instructor.
Do some extra practice or research
Teach the assignment to someone else.
Seek a way to make the information personal
Find a way to make it kinesthetic
Intent to Remember – Having a positive attitude will
help you to remember.
Ways to remember in a class:
• Use a concentration check sheet.
• Use a rubber band on your wrist and snap it when
your attention slips.
• When reading an assignment, talk back to the author.
• Ask questions when listening to a lecture.
• Look for test questions.
Key factor to remembering is having a positive
attitude!
Selectivity– The mind can absorb only a certain amount of
new material at a time.
Ways to be selective in a class:
• Look for clues when reading a textbook assignment.
• Study the summary and review questions before and
after you read the chapter or articles.
• During a lecture, listen for verbal clues such as voice
intonation, emphasis or repetition.
• Pay attention to non-verbal clues such as the lecturer’s
body language.
• Make yourself the test maker.
Meaningful Organization– You can learn and
remember better if you can group ideas into some
sort of meaningful categories or groups.
• The human mind usually best remembers 5 to 7 items
at a time.
• Break down larger numbers of items into smaller
groups –25 items into groups of 5.
• Organize obvious groups together.
• Alphabetize lists.
• Use mnemonic devices (take the first letter of each
item and spell a word or make a sentence.
• Utilize grids to organize information that has
similarities or differences.
Strengthening Neural Connections
1. Mental Visualization:
When you create a mental picture, you are anchoring
information in two parts of your brain, which increases chances
of recall.
2. Recitation:
Saying things aloud in your own words is probably
the most powerful tool you have to transfer
information from short to long-term memory.
3. Association:
Memory is increased when facts to be learned are
associated with something familiar to you.
Studying Tips for
Learning Styles:
VISUAL
Draw & redraw concept maps & charts
Find drawings/charts /
Organize notes in concept maps
Color code material
Watch class videos
Use flashcards
KINESTHETIC
Pace, exercise, tap while studying
Build models/Explore
Draw or write large (newsprint/poster)
AUDITORY
Recite notes out loud
Dictate notes on tape/CD
Verbalize questions from notes
Answer questions out loud
Teach it to others
Vocabulary Strategy: LINCS
 Helps students to learn new vocabulary words using
memory techniques.
 Uses visual imagery, associations with prior
knowledge, and key-word mnemonic devices to create
a study sheet or note card that promotes
comprehension and recall of the concept.
LINCS Procedure
Step 1: List the New Term and definition
Step 2: Identify a Reminding Word
Step 3: Note a LINCing Story
Step 4: Create a LINCing Picture
Step 5: Self Test
LINCS Worksheet
Term
LINCing Story
LINCing Picture
Definition
_____________
Reminding
Word
Self-Test Forward
Self-Test Backward
• Say the new word
• Say the reminding word
• Think of the LINCing story
• Think of the LINCing picture
• Say the meaning of the new word
• Check to see if you are right
•Say the meaning of the new word
• Think of the LINCing picture
• Think of the LINCing story
• Think of the reminding word
• Say the new word
• Check to see if you’re right
LINCS with a Note Card
Front of Card
Back of Card
Vocabulary Word
Essential Definition
Reminding Word
LINCing Story
LINCing Picture
Front of Card
Reminding word (sounds like or is a part of the vocabulary word)
Vocabulary Word
Back of Card
Definition of vocabulary word
Part of speech (Noun, Verb, Adverb, Adjective)
Pronunciation from the dictionary
Sentence from the text where
you found your word with page
#
Picture of vocabulary word
Sentence of picture using
vocabulary word and reminding
word
Many students experience anxiety in the classroom. The
symptoms are the same for almost all students who
experience it (University of Alabama, 2010).
Symptoms of Anxiety:
• Rapid Heart Beat
• Nausea (“Butterflies”)
• Muscle Tension
• Palmar Sweating (galvanic skin response)
• Shortness of Breath
• Mental Block
Physical Aspects of Test Anxiety
 Hormonal
 Chemical
The purpose of this biological reaction
is to keep the body ready to run or
fight. (“Fight or Flight” Response)
•
Result in the classroom: A person’s (the student’s) brain will in
effect shut down (“Downshift”)
•
The emotional reaction. mental state of a person (the student)
produces a corresponding
• Interferes with concentration and
memory.
Dealing with Anxiety
 Use of Brain Compatible Teaching Methods




(mentioned in previous slides)
Teach Students Relaxation Techniques
Encourage Positive Attitudes
Mentally Prepare Students to Learn
Teach and Encourage Good Study Habits and Skills
Relaxation
Relaxation procedure involves systematically
tensing and then relaxing different groups of
muscles in your body
Examples of Relaxation Techniques
A. Tense your face muscles by wrinkling your forehead and cheek
muscles. Hold for Ten Seconds then relax
B. Sit in a comfortable chair or lay down. Move your arms toward the
center of your body and bend both arms at the elbow. Tighten your hands
into fists and simultaneously tense the muscles in your upper arms and
shoulders. Hold for 10 seconds and relax for 15 seconds.
C. Make a conscious effort to take deep breaths when starting to feel
tense. (The brain requires oxygen to function as it should)
Attitude and Mental Preparation
 Cognitive restructuring- A process of examining irrational
messages one sends to oneself concerning outcomes of tests,
or classroom experiences.
Example: Test anxiety is not caused by the test but rather by the
meaning that the individual attaches to the test. So, If you tell
yourself that you are not going to do well, or that you didn’t study
enough, then you will have an emotional reaction that is constant
with the message. The message can be negative or threating.
The objective is to send positive
emotional messages to the brain
Good Study Habits
 Establish Good Study Habits
 Include Plenty of Rest and Good Eating Habits
 Avoid Cramming
Cramming just doesn’t cut it!!!!!!!
Citations
 http://www.ctl.ua.edu/AcadSup/browseacadsup01.aspThe university of





Alabama, Center for Teaching and Learning, 2010.
http://www.enotes.com/gale -psychology-encyclopedia/test-anxiety,
2010
Ferris, Rick., How to Deal With Test Anxiety,
http://www.ehow.com/how_2109696_deal-test-anxiety.html
http://www.k8accesscenter.org/documents/JKnight.webinar.ppt
http://www.kenton.k12.ny.us/.../Study%20Skills%20Memory%20Prin
ciples.ppt
http://www.nycc.edu/webdocs/ic/iqa/celt/student.../study%20skills%
2006.pdf
 How the Brain Learns-3rd Edition, David A. Sousa
 The Power of Brain Compatible Learning – Participant Manual, The Connecting
Link
 Designing Brain-Compatible Learning-3rd Edition, Ga