Thursday, February 17, 2011
Ch. 4 Cognitive information Processing Theory
As I was reading this chapter many thoughts came to mind. First I was wondering how can we make our students remember what we taught in the the beginning of the year. Luckily I am in a science lab and students remember things by doing hands on experiments. But sometimes they forget what they did in the beginning of the year. How do we make what they learn in the beginning of the year stick in their long term memory? Right now I know of a teacher who is struggling with his students in math and he feels frustrated because his students took a bench mark and did very poorly. I tutor some of his students and when I am going over the questions they seem to know the answer but when they get a test and have to do it on their own they seem to fail. What can we do as teachers to help them grasp the information and make it go from their short term memory or working memory to their long term memory?
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It sounds like the students are experiencing test taking anxiety more than not knowing the information. I personally have never been a test taking person. I sweat and freeze up when the pressure is on. I know the information the teacher is asking but it somehow gets mixed up in my head when trying to give the correct answer. This anxiety or pressure is lowered when I can take a verbal exam verses pen to paper exams. The relief of having someone there with me instead of feeling alone has always made test taking a little easier for me. I had been tested for learning disabilities and my doctors from the past have said it is not a disability but more like a social anxiety disorder for taking test. More people have this type of anxiety then we think and I feel that many students experience the same feelings I have described above. I do not know if there is anything educators can do to help the student remember the information more accurately if the true problem is not retention of information but instead anxiety from test taking.
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