…help manage working memory.
Hello and welcome to the 96th edition of our weekly newsletter, Things in Education.
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Over the past few months, we have written six newsletter editions on how the mind processes information. We:
introduced the memory registers in the 83rd edition
explained how to manage students’ sensory memory and by doing so, their attention, in the 85th edition
discussed how to manage the load on students’ working memory in the 87th edition
talked about some ways of optimising working memory in the 88th edition
introduced the workings of long-term memory in the 90th edition
wrote about some robust strategies to increase the connections in long-term memory in the 92nd edition
In this edition, we are back to the second memory register – working memory. Working memory is so integral to the process of learning in the classroom that understanding its various aspects helps all educators improve their planning and teaching.
In earlier editions, we have discussed that working memory is the memory register where active processing of information happens – this is where we think about the information that we have received and try to connect it to information already present in long-term memory. However, working memory capacity is limited – it can hold up to only 7 bits of information at a time (at best), and it loses information very quickly if it is unable to connect it to information in long-term memory OR if new information is received. The problem is that in many prevalent teaching practices, information disappears before students can process it in their working memories.
Permanent and Impermanent Information
Teachers usually provide information to students in two ways:
permanent – that is, information that does not disappear and that students can refer to again
impermanent – that is, information that disappears quickly and that students cannot refer to again.
Let’s understand these with some classroom examples:
Ms. Arora, a Grade 7 Geography teacher, has to focus on this topic today: ‘Understanding How Wind Direction is Affected by Temperature and Pressure’. She has classes in all three sections, and this is how she proceeds:
Class 7A
Here, Ms. Arora comes in well-prepared with a clear explanation of temperature, pressure and wind direction. She stands in front of her class and delivers the following lecture:
“Air moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure to balance the air pressure. High and low-pressure areas are created by temperature differences. When the sun heats the ground, the warm air rises, creating a vacuum. Cooler air from the side sinks and takes the place created by the vacuum. For example, during the day at the beach, warm air rises over the land, and cool air from the sea moves in to take its place. This is called a sea breeze.”
Did Ms. Arora provide her students with information in a permanent or impermanent way? Do you think her students were able to process the information in their working memories well?
Class 7B
Next, Ms. Arora decides to change her approach and breaks her lecture into chunks:
First Chunk: Pressure and Wind Movement
“Let's talk about wind! Wind is air moving from one place to another. But does it move randomly? No! It moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. Can anyone guess why?”
(Pause for responses: To balance pressure.)
“Exactly! It's nature's way of keeping balance. For example, when you open a soda bottle, the high-pressure air inside rushes out to the lower-pressure air outside. Wind works the same way.”
Second Chunk: Temperature’s Role
“Now, what causes high and low-pressure areas? Temperature! When the sun heats the ground, the air above it gets warmer. What do you think happens next?”
(Pause for responses: It rises.)
“Correct! This rising air creates a vacuum below, and the cooler air nearby takes its place.”
Third Chunk: Example – Sea Breeze
“Let’s take an example. Imagine you are at the beach. During the day, the land heats up faster than the sea. Warm air above the land rises, creating a vacuum. Cooler air from the sea moves in to fill in the vacuum. What do we call this breeze coming from the sea?”
(Pause for responses: Sea breeze.)
Did Ms. Arora provide her students with information in a permanent or impermanent way? Do you think her students were able to process the information in their working memories well?
Class 7C
Before class, Ms. Arora takes some time to create reading material for her students. She uses the same chunked-lecture approach as in Class 7B, but she also asks her students to keep the reading material open in front of them:
What is wind?
Wind is the movement of air. It moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure.
What causes pressure differences?
When the sun heats the Earth, the air above the warm ground becomes heats up and rises. This creates a vacuum. Cooler air from nearby moves into the vacuum created.
How does air move?
Air moves from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas to balance the air pressure.
For example: sea breeze. During the day at the beach, warm air above the land rises, creating a vacuum. Cooler air from the sea moves in to replace it. This is called a sea breeze.
Did Ms. Arora provide her students with information in a permanent or impermanent way? Do you think her students were able to process the information in their working memories well?
Analysing the Examples
In Class 7A, Ms. Arora delivers an information-filled lecture without any pauses. This information is impermanent – it disappears as soon as she finishes talking about it.
In Class 7B, Ms. Arora delivers a chunked lecture, with many pauses. This information is impermanent – it disappears as soon as she and her students finish talking about it.
In Class 7C, Ms. Arora asks her students to keep their reading material open in front of them. This information is permanent – it does not disappear at all and is always there for students to refer to.
When information is impermanent (speeches, slides), students do not have enough time to process it, and they are not likely to remember it at all.
When information is impermanent but broken into chunks (a speech with pauses and conversations, slides interspersed with summary slides), students have more time to process it, and they are likely to remember it better.
When information is permanent (reading material, visuals), students have ample time to process it and are likely to remember it the best.
Pedagogically, it is best to combine impermanent, chunked information with permanent information – like Ms. Arora did in Class 7C. Here, she used the chunked-lecture approach with pauses, questions and conversations, while students had their reading material and visuals open in front of them to refer to. This gave their working memories enough time and support to process the information and make connections with their long-term memory. This means that even if a student’s working memory lost a piece of information (like warm air rises), the reading material and visuals ensured that they were able to get it back and process all the information together.
We would love to hear examples from your classrooms of permanent and impermanent information, and strategies you have used to manage your students’ working memories!
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Edition: 4.03
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