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SUMMARY OF WORKING MEMORY WORKSHOP

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Five Tips to Improve Student's Working Memory

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Five Tips to Improve Student's Working Memory

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5 tips to improve student's working memory

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Reducing Cognitive Load to Better Engage Students- Pearson Article

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Reducing Cognitive Load to Better Engage Students- Pearson Article

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Picture this:

You're driving around in Boston at rush hour on one of the notorious old carriage roads that seemingly twist without reason. You're searching for a particular street downtown. The kids in the back seat are singing, as loud as they can, along with The Wiggles, which is blasting through the car speakers.

I can't handle it. What would make this better? Silence. My brain can't process all of this at once. I've maxed out my cognitive load.

Cognitive load is defined as the mental resources used in working memory to perform a task. Most people can store between 5-9 items at any given time, and 2-4 of those can be processed simultaneously. If you don't use new information within 15 seconds, it gets taken out with the trash.

How can we increase our working memory? Practice makes perfect. This is why teachers go over practice problems and, at the higher levels, assign homework that allows for practice of the new skills learned in lecture. To have students learn effectively, their working memory (ability to store information) must be greater than the total cognitive load of the task. I'm usually at my peak when driving in Boston.

Types of cognitive load

A task can contain many different types of cognitive load. There are three in particular that we as educators should be aware of:

Intrinsic cognitive load

Sometimes a task is just hard. Consider calculus vs. arithmetic. Perhaps you're great with math and this wouldn't be a heavy lift for you. For others, this task would require a great deal of mental concentration.

Germane cognitive load

This refers to the actual processing of information. How will we organize it in our brains? Does this information connect with anything we've previously learned? Making connections is part of learning, and strengthens knowledge moving forward.

Extraneous cognitive load

This is the part that teachers have the most control over. It is generated by the way the information is presented and has nothing to do with the task. Are you learning calculus in a rock concert or a library? Have you used a PowerPoint slide theme that is distracting or clean?

Strategies to reduce cognitive load

Many teachers already use strategies to reduce the total cognitive load of a task. Some of that is out of our hands (intrinsic cognitive load) and others we can revise for the better (extraneous cognitive load).

Here are some general suggestions:

Make connections. The more connections to previously learned material that you make, the less germane cognitive load there is for your students.

Use routine. Start and end class in the same way each day, perhaps with a warm-up and a time for questions. This will allow students to forecast that there will be time for questions to be answered.

Provide time. Allow students time in class to think about how this new material connects with what was previously taught.

Be clear and concise.

Pay attention to purpose. What is the goal of this assignment? If a particular question isn't getting you there, delete it.

Don't forget emotions. Anxiety limits learning, and excess cognitive load creates stress. Allow your students space to focus on the material, not their emotions.

Classroom materials can also have an effect on cognitive load.

How many teachers are guilty of using the same handout semester after semester until it looks like this? The media is crooked, there are streaks across the pages, and it is difficult to read.

Consider moving your media digitally to a platform of your choice so you can clean things up a bit. Cleaning them up is relatively easily done by opening up a PDF in Google Docs. As a caveat, while this works well for the humanities, Google does struggle here in my discipline (chemistry).

Ensure that your media isn't distracting. Don't add pictures frivolously. Be sure that the media that you do add contributes toward getting you to your overall lesson goal.

Here are some good rules of thumb to keep in mind for classroom presentations and assignments:

Identify

What is your primary goal in this assignment or presentation?

Evaluate

Consider suggestions for reducing extraneous cognitive load.

Consider

Organization and layout

Clarity of goal

Breaking down of steps

Clarity of expectations for student work

Wordiness and vocabulary

In short, whether you are a teacher or not, you can use the theory of cognitive load to better engage your audience. While you're creating your next presentation, think about these considerations. Also, if you're driving in Boston any time soon, be sure to turn down the music.

Sources
" Cognitive Load Theory and Classroom Strategies." Landmark School Outreach Program, The Landmark School
Johnson, Rebecca. " Cognitive Load, Memory, and Instruction." Innovative Learning Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology.
Lewis, Petra J. " Brain Friendly Teaching-Reducing Learner's Cognitive Load." Brain Friendly Teaching , Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, 12 Jan. 2016,
Randall Crosby, Jennifer. " Reducing Cognitive Load: Keep It Simple." Undergrad Main Site, Stanford University , 5 Feb. 2015.
Shibli, Dominic. " Cognitive Load Theory and Its Application in the Classroom." chartered.college, 18 June 2018.
Connie Malamed, " What is Cognitive Load" The eLearning Coach, http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/what-is-cognitive-load/

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Understanding cognitive load to better engage your students

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Reducing cognitive load can help students learn more effectively. Learn more about cognitive load and easy tactics to reduce it in your online course.

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Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind while performing complex tasks. A young child is able to execute simple tasks - sharpen his pencil when asked - while one in middle school can remember the expectations of multiple teachers.

Since students with attention deficit disorder (ADD or ADHD) and learning disabilities often have problems with short-term memory, it is important to reduce the amount of routine information they must remember. Keeping their memory free for the key part of the task in front of them is essential.

Parents and teachers can help students with ADHD develop strategies for remembering more, and - most importantly - routinely using the strategies they came up with.

How to Improve Working Memory in Children at School

Put homework assignments in writing. Write each assignment on the blackboard in the same place every day, so that students know where to find it. Kids with ADHD may not be listening or paying attention when you give them oral instructions - and you can't rely on them to always remember instructions.

Make checklists. One way to reduce memory demands is to provide your class with a list of the steps required to complete an assignment. The instructions should be brief.
[Take This Test: Does Your Child Have a Working Memory Deficit?]
Find out what they heard. Have students with weak working memory repeat assignment instructions and clarify any parts that they may have forgotten.

Make time at the end of class for students to write down homework in their assignment books. Make sure the kids with ADHD are doing what you've asked. Fun, visual reminders can also help. For an essay assignment, for instance, have each student trace her hand on a piece of paper and then write the name of one part of the essay in each finger: thesis statement, topic sentences for the first, second, and third paragraph, and conclusion.

Make eye contact with a child before giving him a classroom assignment.

Keep homework assignments on the school website up-to-date. Parents of kids with ADHD depend on this information to make sure their kids know what to do.

Speak slowly and provide information in small units. Given too much information at once, a child with weak working memory quickly loses track. She may still be working through the first few minutes of the lesson after you've moved on.
[Click to Download: 11 Tips for Redirecting Focus]
Make lectures interactive. To get kids with weak working memory to remember something important, structure the lecture to include responses from them. For instance, when teaching a math lesson, you might encourage students to volunteer to share what they learned about fractions, division, or whatever material was covered that day. Repeating a key point will help anchor it in their memories.

Use wild and wacky strategies. Presenting information in a typical fashion may not grab a student's attention, but a curve ball can help grasp it for better recall later.

Use brain breaks or movement and exercise. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and helps students think more clearly. So, rather than have students raise their hands to answer, you can have them do jumping jacks by their chairs. You can also encourage movement by letting kids walk to the water fountain for a break.

Have a routine for handing in homework assignments. Some teachers ask students to place their completed work on their desk as soon as they sit down for class - and then check off in their grade books that the homework was done. Another idea: Make handing in homework the "ticket to get out of class" at the end of the day. Stand by the door and collect it as the students leave. As you can imagine, kids will comply when the alternative is having to stay in school one minute longer.

Talk with students about what to do if they forget something. Assign - or ask students to select - a study buddy they can talk with if they've forgotten what they're supposed to do for homework or can't remember what to do in class.

Use an analog clock during lessons to help your students with time management. They will be able to keep track of how much time has passed and how much remains.

Call close attention to due dates and key concepts. Post them, refer to them frequently, and remind parents and students in notes home, newsletters, or school voicemail. For essential themes delivered when instructing, use cues like, "This is important!" It also helps to frame important information with numbers i.e. "Remember 5 things."

Ask students to design their own "tickler systems" - ways to remind themselves of things they must remember (permission slips, lunch money, gym clothes). This could lead to a class discussion, to give students a chance to share the strategies that work for them.

How to Improve Working Memory at Home

Assign a designated place for your child to put important stuff - house keys, wallet, sports equipment. As soon as he gets home from school, make sure he puts those things where they belong. A reward for following through - or a penalty for not - will reinforce the habit of staying organized.

Create a reminder checklist to make sure your child has everything she needs to bring to school. In the beginning, watch as she goes through the checklist, to make sure she's putting every item in her backpack. Do not repeat what's on the list, but ask her to tell you (this helps to transfer the information from your working memory to hers). Have your child use the checklist when she finishes her homework the night before, to avoid rushing around in the morning.

Make, and use, to-do lists yourself, so that your child sees this is a lifelong coping strategy. Life is too complicated to expect kids to commit everything to memory!

Brainstorm with your child about ways he can remember important things. Can he write it on the back of his hand, program his smartphone to remind him, ask friends with better memories to prompt him?

Homework Routines to Improve Working Memory

Get permission from teachers for your child to e-mail her assignments. This is easy for kids who do homework on the computer. Some families scan the homework on a scanner and e-mail it to the teacher. This tip won't strengthen working memory, but it's a good coping strategy for students with weak executive function.

Reward your child for remembering. E-mail teachers once a week to make sure all the homework was handed in. Give your child five points for all homework turned in, four points for missing only one assignment, and no points if he misses more than one. Create a menu of rewards the child can earn. Allot more points for more complex assignments.

Give your child a homework routine to follow. Homework is a complex series of subtasks that must be completed in sequential order. It requires plenty of working memory. Teach your child that, in order to complete a homework assignment, he must:

Know what the assignment is

Bring the required materials home

Return the homework to his bookbag or backpack

Bring the completed homework to school.

Morning Routines to Improve Working Memory

Have your child tape-record the steps of his morning routine. Listening to his own voice on playback creates less tension than your nagging him about what to do. If he forgets a step, he can just rewind the tape to figure out what he missed.

Rehearse with your child what you expect him to remember right before the situation. For example, if he needs to ask the teacher for a study guide or one-on-one help, prep him by asking, "So, what do you need to say to your teacher when you go up to her desk?"

Use digital reminders. With children in middle school, use cell phones, text messages, or instant messages to remind them of things they have to do.

Keep external distractions to a minimum - turn off the TV or turn down the volume if you want your child's full attention when you're saying something important.

Follow through. Children with weak working memory will indicate that they did something - put their homework in their backpack, say - when you ask, but will proceed to forget. Until the child gets used to taking action when prompted, check on him to make sure he did what he told you.
[Get This Free Download: 10 Solutions for Disorganization at School]

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"I Remembered Not to Forget!" How to Improve Working Memory in Children

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Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind while performing complex tasks. A young child is able to execute simple tasks - sharpen his pencil when asked - while one in middle school can remember the expectations of multiple teachers.

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At a glance

Working memory refers to how we hold on to and work with information stored in short-term memory.

Kids use working memory to learn and follow directions.

You can build working memory games into your child's daily life.

Does your child have a hard time keeping one bit of information in mind while doing something else? For example, you're making spaghetti together, and your child's in charge of the sauce. But your child leaves to answer a text and forgets to come back and stir. Working memory challenges can cause trouble with tasks like these.

Working memory refers to how we hold on to and work with information that short-term memory stores. (In the past, the term working memory was used interchangeably with short-term memory.) It's part of a group of skills called executive function.

Kids use working memory all the time to learn. It's needed for things like following multi-step directions or solving a math problem in your head. You can help your child improve working memory by building simple strategies into everyday life.

1. Work on visualization skills.

Encourage kids to create a picture in their mind of what they've just read or heard. For example, say you've asked your child to set the table for five people. Have your child imagine what the table should look like, and then draw it. As kids get better at visualizing, they can describe the image instead of drawing it.

2. Have your child teach you.

Being able to explain how to do something involves making sense of information and mentally filing it. Maybe your child is learning a skill, like how to dribble a basketball. Ask your child to teach you this skill. Teachers do something similar by pairing up students in class. This lets them start working with the information right away rather than waiting to be called on.

3. Try games that use visual memory.

There are lots of matching games that can help kids work on visual memory, like the classic game Concentration (or Memory). You can also do things like give kids a magazine page and ask them to circle all instances of the word the or the letter a. License plates can also be a lot of fun. Take turns reciting the letters and numbers on a license plate and then saying them backwards, too.

Simple card games like Crazy Eights, Uno, Go Fish, and War can improve working memory in two ways. Kids have to keep the rules of the game in mind. They also have to remember what cards they have and which ones other people have played.

5. Encourage active reading.

There's a reason highlighters and sticky notes are so popular: Jotting down notes and underlining or highlighting text can help kids keep the information in mind long enough to answer questions about it. Talking out loud and asking questions about the reading material can also help with working memory. Active reading strategies like these can help with forming long-term memories, too.

6. Chunk information into smaller bites.

Ever wonder why phone numbers and social security numbers have hyphens in them? Because it's easier to remember a few small groups of numbers than it is to remember one long string of numbers. Keep this in mind when you need to give your child multi-step directions. Write them down or give them one at a time. You can also use graphic organizers to help break writing assignments into smaller pieces.

Using multiple senses to process information can help with working memory and long-term memory. Write tasks down so your child can look at them. Say them out loud so your child can hear them. Walk through the house as you discuss the family chores your child needs to complete. Using multisensory strategies can help kids keep information in mind long enough to use it.

8. Help make connections.

Help your child form associations that connect different details and make them more memorable. One way is to grab your child's interest with fun mnemonics. (For instance, the made-up name "Roy G. Biv" can help kids remember the order of the colors in the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, and so on.) Finding ways to connect information helps with forming and retrieving long-term memory. It also helps with working memory, which is what we use to hold and compare new and old memories.

Key takeaways

Teaching kids ways to visualize thoughts can help improve their working memory.

Card games and other fun activities can help build working memory.

Finding ways to connect information can help your child with long-term memory as well as working memory.

About the author

About the author

Amanda Morin is the author of "The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education" and the former director of thought leadership at Understood. As an expert and writer, she helped build Understood from its earliest days.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Thomas E. Brown, PhD is a clinical psychologist and director of the Brown Clinic for Attention and Related Disorders.

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Working memory games can help kids get better at remembering and using information. Here are eight simple ways to improve working memory in your child.

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WM TEST AND EXAMPLE

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VISIT MY WEBSITE … SEE AVAILABLE SERVICES
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Shauna F. King presents motivating and relevant learning for educators and administrators for any school. Whether your needs are for your whole staff, leadership team, individual teachers, or the parent community, Shauna's knowledge and experience give her that edge to engage all audiences.

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These classroom hacks can help.

Brought to you by Learning Ally

Want to figure out all the ways you can help reduce the stress your teachers have in meeting the needs of their students with dyslexia? Learn more >>

As teachers, we know that when students have certain abilities, they're better prepared for school and life. Working memory is one of those things. We know it when we see it: Students are organized, know exactly what to do after you've given directions, and are able to follow in-depth discussions.

On the flip side, there are students who need extra help to develop their working memory. As it turns out, working memory and dyslexia go hand in hand, and there's a lot we can do to help students with dyslexia remember more.

What is working memory?

In short, our working memory helps us hold and use information. It's the cognitive process we use to hold some information in our minds while we retrieve other information. It's also involved with recalling information, from a set of directions to a story. We're using our working memory across the day-completing step-by-step math problems, following a recipe after reading it, or doing tasks like identifying rhyming words or sounding out multisyllabic words.

Our working memory is small; only a few bits of information will fit at any time. That's why, when you're working through a math problem, you may have to refer back to it a few times to retrieve the information you lost. That's also why it's so frustrating for kids who struggle with poor working memory-everything seems to be passing them by.

Children with dyslexia have a higher rate of working memory concerns. The rate of poor working memory in students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities ranges from 20 to 50 percent , compared to 10 percent of students overall. So, it's something that you're likely to see in classrooms. Here's how to help:

1. Give students personal reference charts.

Reduce the amount that students have to keep in their working memory with personal reference charts. This gives them the chance to actually think through higher-order tasks because they don't have to take energy to recall basic information (math facts, vocabulary words, editing notations). It also helps them complete tasks faster because they aren't relying solely on their memory to get information.
Teacher tip: Work with students to identify what information they have trouble recalling and show them how to create a personal reference chart. This teaches them to use this strategy throughout their lives.
2. Place anchor charts strategically.

Anchor charts are, really, a whole-class visual reference sheet, but they can also clutter your walls and make it difficult for students to identify which information they need to use now. Consider having rotating anchor charts at a specific space in your room where you can post the anchor chart that students should be using for the task at hand.

3. Embrace audiobooks.

For students with dyslexia, audiobooks remove the difficulty of sounding out words. This takes the pressure off their working memory so they can understand the story or content. Using a solution like Learning Ally, which provides kids with audiobooks that have options like highlighted text, lets kids enjoy books without taxing their working memory.

4. Use visual organizers.

Teach students how to create visual organizers, like a mind map, that they can use to capture information as they read. Then, remind them to review their organizers at important moments during class.

5. Use colors to jog the memory.

Make it clear when things need to be in order. Students with dyslexia may repeat information in an incorrect sequence. If students need to remember or put directions or information in a specific order, consider having them create a list, highlight things in rainbow color order, or use another strategy. This helps capitalize on students' visual working memory (which is different than their verbal working memory).

6. Teach one task at a time.

Even seemingly simple schoolwork may require a lot of working memory. Break large tasks into smaller tasks, then teach tasks individually. Finally, teach students to do all the tasks together. This helps students master each task individually, without having to rely as heavily on memory, as they create a routine, which makes larger procedures come together faster and more easily. It also helps create routines, which free up working memory as well.

7. Celebrate speech to text.

Teach students how to use speech-to-text software so they can get the words out of their mind quickly by making a recording, which they can use later. Recording ideas for essays and assignments reduces the load on working memory.

8. Document discussion.

Having poor working memory makes it difficult to participate in conversation and discussion. Record the main points and ideas as you have a class discussion so students can engage in the big ideas without getting mired in trying to recall what their peers just said.

Making discussing working memory a schoolwide effort is beneficial for all the children we teach.
Our friends at Learning Ally offer many supports for students with dyslexia and their teachers. Learn how they can help here.

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Dyslexia and Working Memory Go Hand in Hand-How to Help Students Remember More

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These classroom hacks can help. Brought to you by Learning Ally Want to figure out all the ways you can help reduce the stress your teachers have in meeting the needs of their students with dyslexia? Learn more >> As teachers, we know that when students have certain abilities, they're better prepared for school and life.

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Working Memory in the  Classroom -Article

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Working Memory in the  Classroom -Article

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The stroop test | how fast is your brain ?

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This is a touchscreen and mouse friendly version of the Simon task.

The N-Back task goes back more than half a century, developed in the 1950s by Kirchner, as you can read in more detail on wikipedia.

In short, in the N-Back task, participants are presented a sequence of stimuli one-by-one. For each stimulus, they need to decide if the current stimulus is the same as the one presented N trials ago. The N can be 1 trials, 2 trials, 3 trials, etc. The higher the number, the more difficult the task. The factors that seem to influence the performance are not only the N, but also the speed of presentation and the size of the set of stimuli.

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This is a touchscreen and mouse friendly version of the Simon task. The N-Back task goes back more than half a century, developed in the 1950s by Kirchner, as you can read in more detail on wikipedia. In short, in the N-Back task, participants are presented a sequence of stimuli one-by-one.

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Smart Study Strategies for Stronger Memory

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Smart Study Strategies for Stronger Memory

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The What, the Why, and The How of Working Memory. Tracy  Alloway

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The What, the Why, and The How of Working Memory. Tracy  Alloway

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Working memory and its role in teaching and learning - THE EDUCATION HUB

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Working memory and its role in teaching and learning - THE EDUCATION HUB

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The key features of long-term and working memory and how they work together as part of the learning process.