A Survey of Methods to Increase Memory and Attention in Students

Developing memory and attention techniques is vital to our student's success. "If a concept is important enough to teach, teachers should study every way possible to help students remember it (King-Friedrich, 2001). Some successful memory techniques include recitation, connecting learning to prior knowledge, and aerobic exercise. Verbal praise, monitoring the classroom and a conducting a project-based classroom are some effective ways of keeping student's attention. Both memory and attention techniques will be discussed.

"There is no principle that is more important or more effective that recitation for transferring material from the short-term memory to the long-term memory" (Memory and Related Learning Principles, 2003). Recitation is the physical act of speaking out loud the words and ideas that you want to remember. This technique has some advantages. In the classroom it forces students to explain concepts in their own words. The students who can successfully do so are able make more sense of the material in their minds. Verbal recitation, in one experiment, was tested on a group of students. Those that were quizzed on material 63 days after exposure using recitation had a 70% retention rate compared with students who did not review who had a retention rate of 14% (Memory and Related Learning Principles, 2003).

Another successful memory technique is connecting new material to a student's prior knowledge. "New learning must be connected to what the students already know" (King-Friedrichs, 2001). Students are more likely to pay attention and remember something that can be related to what they are familiar with. In the classroom for example, educators can connect a read-a-loud book about pets to experiences the students have had with their own pets. This engages the students in learning and helps them remember important parts of the book. They have to be able to relate new and information and experiences to what they already know (King-Friedrichs, 2001).