Unit 02 Learning Objectives and Teaching

2.1 Teaching for Memory Development

Many students have memory problems. Students who have deficits in registering
information in short-term memory often have difficulty remembering instructions
or directions they have just been given, what was just said during conversations
and class lectures and discussions, and what they just read. Students who have
difficulty with working memory often forget what they are doing while doing it.

For example, they may understand the three-step direction they were just given,
but forget the second and third steps while carrying out the first step. If they are
trying to solve a math problem that has several steps, they might forget the
steps while trying to solve the problem. When they are reading a paragraph,
they may forget what was at the beginning of the paragraph by the time they get to
the end of the paragraph. These students will look like they have difficulty with
reading comprehension. In facts, they do; but the comprehension problem is due to
a failure of the memory system rather than the language system.

Students who have deficits in the storage and retrieval of information from long-
term memory may study for tests, but not be able to recall the information they
studied when taking the tests. They frequently have difficulty recalling specific
factual information such as dates or rules of grammar. They have a poor memory
of material they earlier in the school year or last year. They may also be unable to
answer specific questions asked of them in class even when their parents and/or
teachers think they really know the information.

The following ten general strategies are offered to help students develop a more
efficient and effective memory.

1. Give directions in multiple formats

Students benefit from being given directions in both visual and verbal formats. In
addition, their understanding and memorizing of instructions could be checked by
encouraging them to repeat the directions given and explain the meaning of these
directions. Examples of what needs to be done are also often helpful for enhancing
memory of directions.

2. Teach students to over-learn material

Students should be taught the necessity of "over-learning" new information. Often
they practice only until they are able to perform one error-free repetition of the
material. However, several error-free repetitions are needed to solidify the
information.

3. Teach students to use visual images and other memory strategies

Another memory strategy that makes use of a cue is one called word substitution.
The substitute word system can be used for information that is hard to visualize,
for example, for the word occipital or parietal. These words can be converted into
words that sound familiar that can be visualized. The word occipital can be
converted to exhibit hall (because it sounds like exhibit hall). The student can then
make a visual image of walking into an art museum and seeing a big painting of a
brain with big bulging eyes (occipital is the region of the brain that controls
vision). With this system, the vocabulary word the student is trying to remember
actually becomes the cue for the visual image that then cues the definition of the
word.

4. Give teacher-prepared handouts prior to class lectures

Class lectures and series of oral directions should be reinforced by teacher-
prepared handouts. The handouts for class lectures could consist of a brief outline
or a partially completed graphic organizer that the student would complete during
the lecture. Having this information both enables students to identify the salient
information that is given during the lectures and to correctly organize the
information in their notes. Both of these activities enhance memory of the
information as well. The use of Post-Its to jot information down on is helpful for
remembering directions.

5. Teach students to be active readers

To enhance short-term memory registration and/or working memory when reading,
students should underline, highlight, or jot key words down in the margin when
reading chapters. They can then go back and read what is underlined, highlighted,
or written in the margins. To consolidate this information in long-term memory,
they can make outlines or use graphic organizers. Research has shown that the use
of graphic organizers increases academic achievement for all students.

6. Write down steps in math problems

Students who have a weakness in working memory should not rely on mental
computations when solving math problems. For example, if they are performing
long division problems, they should write down every step including carrying
numbers. When solving word problems, they should always have a scratch piece of
paper handy and write down the steps in their calculations. This will help prevent
them from losing their place and forgetting what they are doing.

7. Provide retrieval practice for students

Research has shown that long-term memory is enhanced when students engage in
retrieval practice. Taking a test is a retrieval practice, i.e., the act of recalling
information that has been studied from long-term memory. Thus, it can be very
helpful for students to take practice tests. When teachers are reviewing information
prior to tests and exams, they could ask the students questions or have the students
make up questions for everyone to answer rather than just retelling students the to-
be-learned information. Also, if students are required or encouraged to make up
their own tests and take them, it will give their parents and/or teachers information
about whether they know the most important information or are instead focused on
details that are less important.

8. Help students develop cues when storing information

According to the memory research, information is easier retrieved when it is stored
using a cue and that cue should be present at the time the information is being
retrieved. For example, the acronym HOMES(short name) can be used to
represent the names of the Great Lakes — Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and
Superior. The acronym is a cue that is used when the information is being learned,
and recalling the cue when taking a test will help the student recall the information.

9. Prime the memory prior to teaching/learning

Cues that prepare students for the task to be presented are helpful. This is often
referred to as priming the memory. For instance, when a reading comprehension
task is given, students will get an idea of what is expected by discussing the
vocabulary and the overall topic beforehand. This will allow them to focus on the
salient information and engage in more effective depth of processing. Advance
organizers also serve this purpose. For older students, Cliff Notes for pieces of
literature are often helpful aids for priming the memory.

10. Review material before going to sleep

It should be helpful for students to review material right before going to sleep at
night. Research has shown that information studied this way is better remembered.
Any other task that is performed after reviewing and prior to sleeping (such as
getting a snack, brushing teeth, listening to music) interferes with consolidation of
information in memory.
2.2 Teaching for Understanding

Teachers can apply these guidelines, described below, to teaching at all grade
levels, even through higher education. They are not meant to capture every element
of effective classroom practice — other factors, including classroom structure and
teacher-student relationships also play a role. Instead, this framework is a guide
that can help keep the focus of educational practice on understanding, while
allowing teachers flexibility to design units that fit their priorities and teaching
style.

1. Generative Topics

What makes a topic or concept worth teaching? To guide the selection of teaching
topics, the framework prioritizes those that have the following features:

 Central to a given discipline or subject area

 Connect readily to what is familiar to students, and to other subject matters
 Engaging to students and to teachers
 Accessible to students via multiple resources and ways of thinking

When teachers are largely restricted in terms of the topics they must teach, steps
can be taken to make a given topic more generative. For example, teaching the
play, A by written by a person Saleem Khan to high schoolers can be part of a unit
on family relationships or intrapersonal conflict. Adding a theme to a given topic
can help to add new entry points into a topic, making it more accessible to students
who might not otherwise be engaged by it.

2. Understanding Goals

To focus the exploration of generative topics, teachers can develop nested

understanding goals — that is, unit-sized goals embedded within year-long
overarching goals, or "through lines."

In an American History course, a year-long understanding goal might be, "Students

will understand the various considerations and strategies historians use to interpret
evidence about the past." This goal can be made explicit to students, helping them
organize their thinking, by phrasing the goal as a question: "How do we find out
the truth about things that happened a long time ago?" A unit-goal, in this case,
might be: "Students will understand how to read and judge the reliability of
primary sources about..." the American Revolution, or a topic of local history.
3. Performances of Understanding

Throughout the school year, students should be engaged in performances of

understanding; activities that both develop and demonstrate their current
understanding.

Initial performances would be rather simple, such as discussing as a group how

coal mining relates to students' existing understandings of energy resources. In an
elementary science class, students might be given a dried leaf or other "specimen"
to explore using various tools, like magnifying glasses or a water dropper; guided
by a teacher, these activities can help to develop students' understanding while
simultaneously revealing what they know about coal mining in one case, and the
scientific process in the other.

Over time, the performances of understanding in a given topic become

progressively more complex. Also, teachers gradually transition from offering high
levels of instructional support to lower levels, as students begin to understand key
concepts independently of the teacher. Ultimately, students might participate in a
culminating performance of understanding or exhibition, where they apply their
understanding to a new problem or context. In the examples above, the older
students might develop an essay on how advances in transportation influence the
availability of energy sources. Using images and text, the young science students
might document the characteristics they found to apply across various authentic
specimens.

4. Ongoing Assessment

In the Teaching for Understanding Framework, performances of understanding and

student assessment go hand-in-hand whenever possible. Rather than assessing
outcomes primarily at the end of the unit, teachers provide feedback, learning
criteria, and opportunities for reflection throughout instruction. Feedback from
teachers, peers, and self-evaluation can help to advance the students' work,
particularly when:

 Assessment criteria are made public to students

 Feedback is provided on a regular basis
 Students and teachers have ample opportunity to reflect on students'
understanding and barriers that remain
The Teaching for Understanding Framework has been used for more than 20 years
by teachers around the world. Since its development, the framework has evolved to
better meet the needs of educators and students. In particular, Professor Stone
Wiske has emphasized learning communities as a fifth element of the framework.
Acknowledging that learning need not occur among isolated students, generative
topics can be taught with an eye towards developing supportive learning
communities. Like the rest of the framework, promoting collaboration is a
challenge that many educators already take on in their classrooms. The Teaching
for Understanding framework provides a structure that teachers can return to, over
the school year, to help ensure that these important instructional components are
systematically being addressed.

2.3 Reflective Teaching for Leaning

When teachers engage in reflective teaching, they are dedicating time to evaluate
their own teaching practice, examine their curricular choices, consider student
feedback, and make revisions to improve student belonging and learning. This
process requires information gathering, data interpretation, and planning for the
future. Reflective teaching involves examining one’s underlying beliefs about
teaching and learning and one’s alignment with actual classroom practice before,
during and after a course is taught.
When teaching reflectively, teachers think critically about their teaching and look
for evidence of effective teaching. This critical analysis can draw on a variety of
sources: Teachers lay out four crucial sources: “students’ eyes, colleagues’
perceptions, personal experience, and theory and research.” Teachers can use
various tools and methods to learn from these sources and reflect on their teaching,
ranging from low-key to formal and personal to inter-collegial. For example,
reflective teaching may include self-assessment, classroom observations,
consideration of student evaluations, or exploration of educational research.
Because each semester’s students and their needs are different, reflective teaching
is a continual practice that supports effective and student-centered teaching.
Examples of Self-Assessment
 Reflection Journals: Teachers might consider capturing a few details of their
teaching in a journal to create an ongoing narrative of their teaching across
terms and years. Scheduling a dedicated time during the 5 or so minutes after
class to write their entries will ensure continual engagement, rather than
hoping to find a moment throughout the day. The teacher writes general
thoughts about the day’s lesson and might reflect on the following questions:
 What went well today? What could I have done differently? How will I modify
my instruction in the future?
 Teaching Inventories: A number of inventories, like the Teaching Practices
Inventory have been developed to help teachers assess and think more
broadly about their teaching approaches. Inventories are typically designed to
assess the extent to which particular pedagogies are employed (e.g. student-
versus teacher-centered practices).
 Video-Recorded Teaching Practices: Teachers may take video record their
lessons while conducting a classroom observation, or teachers can video record
themselves while teaching and use a classroom observation protocol to self-
assess their own practices. Some classrooms may have video cameras installed
for lecture capture, which teachers can then use for their self assessment.
 Teaching Portfolio: A more time-intensive practice, the teaching portfolio
invites teachers to integrate the various components of their teaching into a
cohesive whole, typically starting with a teaching philosophy or statement,
moving through sample syllabi and assignments, and ending with evaluations
from colleagues and students..