Research School Network: Memory in Science We need to look at skills which are most effective to help our students to transfer to and recall information from their long term memory.

Command words, key words, equations and required practicals. There is a huge amount of content in the new science GCSE which students need to recall – whether it’s to simply write down an equation from memory or to recall basic scientific facts in order to access a higher level application question. Therefore we need to look at skills which are most effective to help our students to transfer to and recall information from their long term memory.

There are two important parts to our memory, the long term memory (LTM) and our working memory (WM). When a student is learning new information, they use their WM to actively process the information when performing a task. It is important to ensure you are not overloading their WM by giving them lots to do/​think about at once, this is because our WM can only hold a limited amount of information at any one time. Rehearsal can help keep this information in their WM for longer and support it being encoded into their LTM. Once transferred, the information can then be retrieved and used to complete tasks in the future. However, retrieving it can be difficult. Research has shown that students can forget approximately 50% of information with the first 24 hours of learning something new increasing up to 75% after 31 days. Self-quizzing and low stakes testing can support the transfer of information to and from LTM. Self-quizzing uses the traditional ​‘Look. Cover. Check. Repeat’ process which supports the rehearsal of information within their WM. Having to write the definition from memory and also completing regular low stakes tests in class also guides them through retrieving the information from their LTM.

Last year our department incorporated the use of knowledge organisers, self-quizzing and low stakes testing into our lessons. Every science class, across all key stages, were given knowledge organisers and set self-quizzing homework. Then when they came to lesson, each one started with a short low stakes quiz. This has been effective for a number of reasons. Firstly, students have adapted well to the new routine. They know what is required for homework and what the expectations are when starting a lesson. It supports staff in terms of workload, as the homework is checked very quickly by just looking to see if there is evidence of self-quizzing and the routine works well to calm the students, giving them a task to complete as soon as they enter the room. Secondly, self-quizzing has supported our students recall as a whole. We created the knowledge organisers ourselves, this meant that we were able to pick the words which are the most important for the students to learn. When completing summative assessments, students are achieving greater marks in recall questions and having the starting point to tackle the more demanding application questions. Due to students already having an understanding of key words, this reduces the load on the students WM when tackling tricky questions. It frees up their WM to focus on the task as hand rather than getting lost in the meaning of key words in the question. Using this alongside other techniques, including Sweller’s Worked Example Effect and other strategies explored by the Learning Scientists really support the transfer of information from a students’ WM to their LTM.

Investigating strategies to support students in transferring and recalling information from their LTM is key. Self-quizzing and low stakes quizzes are just the start, additional information regarding the Working Memory Model, Cognitive Load and other strategies can be found here:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/improving-secondary-science/​

https://impact.chartered.college/article/shibli-cognitive-load-theory-classroom/​

http://www.learningscientists.org/http://mrbartonmaths.com/resourcesnew/8.%20Research/Explicit%20Instruction/Education%20Review%20Summary%20Article.pdf