Enhancing Student Retention Through Memory Retrieval in Secondary Science Education
Introduction: 500 words
Positionality:
Embarking on my PGCE teacher training this year, I can't deny my prior experience in education. Before the training, I worked as a cover supervisor and spent a year as a science technician. These experiences laid the groundwork for my decision to pursue a PGCE. As I progress through one term of training, I've come to understand that teaching is akin to a performance. Teachers play the role of performers, and students are the audience. From the moment you enter the classroom until the end of the lesson, how you manage behaviour, facilitate engagement, and meet students' needs involves a performative approach.
The success of a lesson is achieved through a continuous display of motivation. Motivation, as highlighted by Adeyemi & Oyetade (2011), is an internal force that fuels and sustains behaviour towards achieving goals. For teachers, maintaining motivation is crucial in delivering excellent lessons. As educators, we are not just transmitters of knowledge; we are performers who inspire and engage our students throughout the learning process.
Teacher motivation refers to intrinsic and extrinsic derives that influence the work performance of teachers (Sophia, 2014). There is a major role of teachers in the educational process. When? teachers are motivated then, students can be motivated easily (Jesus & Lens, 2005).
As a teacher in a secondary school, I realise the importance of students retaining information from lessons.
At Harris academy I realised it heavily emphasises on the importance of recall and active recall. It follows a strict lesson structure where it is based around recall, I realised students and not just in science but by observing other subjects in different departments across the board students struggle. Therefore, I believe it is integral part of a teachers profession to find ways and always adapt their lessons in such a way whereby they can be able to help students to retain information. I believe this is what makes a credible teacher.
As someone, who has been in education most of their life I realise how overwhelming and pressure and stressful it can be due to the cognitive overload I am aware at the struggle the students can find themselves in as they may have lack of time or opportunity to go over or retrieve information. Especially if there is working memory issues related such as ADHD, ADD, dyspraxia or dyslexia as I came across many students who had Teachers often describe children with Working Memory problems as having poor listening skills, seeming lost, or having attentional issues.This could also be a factor as to why recall was poor in some students more than others. Often would be characterized with slow to copy from the board or slow to process information, and even trouble answering questions when called upon. It is clear there is no one size fits all when it comes to teaching however there is extensive data on the power of memory retrieval and how we can consolidate learning into long term memory. I wanted to see by engaging in daily retrieval practise in every lesson and carefully selecting a few questions as a systematic approach to test individuals memory and to see if they could retrieve. Evidence shows that retrieval practise Is one of the best methods to practise and to retain information ( Karpicke and Blunt, 2011 )
Positionality
I firmly believe that, as an educator, ensuring the safety and well-being of each student is the most essential responsibility. Creating a nurturing environment in your classroom is crucial. To foster a culturally sensitive and inclusive space, it is imperative to consider the cultural nuances, beliefs, and language preferences of each student. This approach contributes to the establishment of a safe and progressive learning environment.
As someone who is multilingual and has grown up in a highly multicultural setting, my own perspective, or positionality, has been significantly influenced by my upbringing and surroundings. In crafting my lesson plans, I make a conscious effort to infuse diversity into each session. Drawing from my own experiences, I incorporate anecdotes and various analogies, particularly through storytelling. This method proves highly effective, especially when teaching sciencea subject with broad dimensions. Leveraging my background as a science technician, I can elucidate complex theories in chemistry and explain practical applications. By being relatable, offering diverse viewpoints, and maintaining professionalism, I aim to make lessons more engaging and conducive to healthy debates with diverse opinions.
In addition as Gurin (2002) mentioned diversity helps to creative a positive learning outcome in a classroom
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- What do you think about teaching and the teacher you have become? What has your experience been to date?
- What values inform your pedagogy?
- Do you take a stance?
- Can you link this to literature?
Context:
Tell the reader about the school, the class and the pupils. What about your subject specialism? How does the pedagogy of your specialism also provide a context?
What evidence/experience can you draw upon which tells you this is a useful idea to explore? (This could be drawn from your reflections/assignments/mentor /observations of other teachers)
At Harris Academy, I've witnessed numerous lessons where most teachers underscore the significance of reinforcing the material covered in the previous class. Across various subjects, students consistently participate in the daily review task, showcasing their ability to recall and apply knowledge from the preceding lessona testament to effective teaching methods. Discussions with my mentor during our mentor meetings have further emphasized that revisiting past lessons not only supports scaffolding in students' learning but also serves as an indicator of the effectiveness of the teaching approach in a particular subject.
While pursuing my PGCE in science with a specialization in chemistry, I recognize the inherent challenges within the field of science education. Acknowledging the complexity of scientific concepts and terminology, I am committed to delivering lessons in a manner that enhances retention and practical application. Specifically, I am keen to assess the effectiveness of my teaching when imparting biology to ninth-grade students. The daily review, through methods such as collecting and reviewing student books, live marking, or gauging understanding through a show of hands, will provide a clear indication of the impact of my instructional approach on student learning.
Action research: What (do you intend to do)?
Introduce the reader to what action research is? What is its promise? How does this paradigm help you to think about research-informed practice and what data might be? What model are you adopting in this enquiry? Use citations from literature about action research to show the step-by-step process you will undertake in this enquiry.
I will be conducting research on a year 9 biology class. Focusing on memory retrieval my active enquiry revolves around the question; can engaging in knowledge retrieval task enhance a students ability to retain information from the previous lesson? To investigate this, I plan to deliver five questions to students related to their prior biology lesson.
The enquiry:
This concept aligns with one of my selected themes, namely cognitive theories. Investigating the ways in which students retain information is integral to learning, as these theories delve into the processes of how learners acquire, process, and apply knowledge. By testing my hypothesis and gathering data over time, I can incorporate these insights into my action and research project, offering a comprehensive explanation and analysis of my findings. Additionally, my chosen theme boasts a substantial body of research, further enriching my exploration.
In each session, I'll present the class with a consistent set of five questions for them to respond to within a 10-minute timeframe. At the conclusion of each lesson, I'll gather their books to compile the results. Employing a standardized set of questions with a uniform format for every lesson aims to eliminate bias and ensure a fair assessment of the outcomes.
Literature:
You will need to provide two literature reviews.
- Firstly, you will need to introduce the reader to your topic the intervention you have chosen to explore.
- Secondly, you will need to also provide examples and case studies of similar interventions to show others explorations with this theme prior to your attempts. What can you learn from these? How do these shape your own intervention?
- What can you learn from these? How do these shape your own intervention? 2 studies both of which have conducted similar interventions or how do they relate to you!
- What theory/ideas/literature supports your idea? What evidence is there that this is a useful thing to do?
There is a numerous volume of Cognitive theories which support the idea of memory retrieval such as Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, emphasize that individuals have different learning styles and strengths.
Schools can use this insight to adopt diverse teaching methods and materials to cater to various learning preferences. The memory retrieval task is a way or measuring students ability to retain previous knowledge, but it can also reveal their strengths and weaknesses in learning.
Jean Piaget's theory highlights the stages of cognitive development in children. Educators can use this knowledge to create age-appropriate curriculum and activities that align with students' cognitive abilities at different stages.
Vygotskys social development theory: lev Vygotskys theory emphasizes the importance of social interaction in cognitive development. In the classroom, collaborative learning and group activities can be incorporated to foster a social interaction, which in turn, enhances cognitive growth. The daily retrieval practise will often involve a classroom discussion sharing answers and reasons, as well as working through the answers together.
Information processing theory. This theory focuses on how individuals encode, store and retrieve information. Educators can use this insight to design instructional strategies that help students improve their memory, attention and problem- solving skills. I will be adapting the questions every lesson based on previous lesson.
Cognitive load theory: This theory suggests that there are limits to the amount of information the human brain can process at once. In education, it encourages educators to present information in a way that minimizes cognitive load, making it easier for students to understand and retain the material, presenting students with 5 short questions I believe will minimize cognitive overload but will be enough to assess student performance.
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