Research School Network: New Unity fortnightly pdf – Making Connections Connecting evidence to practice

Unity Research School Director, Andy Samways, launches a fortnightly one-sider PDF designed to help link evidence-informed strategies with classroom practice.

The first one is all about working memory and instruction, (other terms associated with this include cognitive load):

Making Connections Issue #1 – Working memory and instruction

FACT: Working memory* plays an essential role in everyday life, especially in supporting learning in school. 

*In simple terms, working memory can be described as holding short-term (i.e. temporary) information in your mind while using that information to accomplish a task. 

Important characteristics to understand about working memory in humans are that:

• it can only hold a limited amount of information
• the information in working memory is transitory. It is only held briefly in order to attempt to accomplish a task or activity and then it is gone (unless other measures are taken to convert it into a more long-term memory).

ISSUE: Working memory influences learning and behaviours in the classrooms of our schools. To what extent are you aware of:

• What factors affect it?
• What are the characteristics of children with poor working memory?
• What can we do in our teaching/​classrooms to support children to overcome the barriers a poor working memory brings? 

The PDFs are designed to support the professional learning of busy teachers, TAs and learning mentors by bringing together and connecting a selection of well respected evidence based resources. 

Click on the links, download the resources (guides, podcasts, papers, posters) and use them to grow your understanding of this vital human characteristic for the benefit of your teaching and pupils’ learning.