Recieving Activities
We have all heard the phrase "garbage in, garbage out." While I do not necessarily support the negative connotation associated with this phrase, the truth is that what we put in is directly connected to what we get out. For memory, what information we bring in has everything to do with how it is processed, stored or exposed of, and (hopefully) eventually used in transfer. As discussed previously, the sensory organs are the tools which bring information into working memory (the first critical step in transfer). While many studies on transfer have focused on the act of transfer itself, I believe it is important to start by examining the beginning of the process where information is brought into working memory to be used. Working memory has a limited storage capacity (can only hold four to seven items at a time) which can restrict new information processing (such as synthesis, consolidation, etc.) and potential retrieval cues that call for access to prior knowledge and begin the process of transfer. In this light, there is a greater potential for transfer to occur if more information can be brought into and intially stored in working memory. More information in working memory allows more information to be encoded and processed into long-term memory which strengthens connectivity and expands cognitive memory structures. Greater long-term memory capacity offers greater accessibility for retrieval cues in potential moments of transfer. While many scholars have overlooked the connection between sensory reception and transfer, I contend that without information processing in working memory transfer cannot happen at all. If we can maximize the potentials of working memory storage, then we can better facilitate the many processes involved in producing transfer.
Cognitive science has found that there are ways to push the potentials of working memory storage to increase capacity by utilizing more of the senses for intake. Brown, Roediger, and McDaniels assert, “The popular notion that you learn better when you receive instruction in a form consistent with your preferred learning style, for example as an auditory or visual learner, is not supported by the empirical research"...Instead, research suggests that we should “go wide” and draw upon all "aptitudes and resourcefulness" (4). Designing learning opportunities in the classroom that draw upon all of the senses help to bring in more information and package it in a way that working memory capacity supports. The following are examples of the types of activities that can be done in the composition classroom to engage all of the senses in learning.
Multimodal Projects
Multimodal projects engage more of the senses through what Miller and McVee call "Embodied Learning," which refers to learning that occurs through use of the senses to engage more deeply with the experience (150). Embodied learning takes place when "we actively integrate our knowledge into our existing conceptual frames in a process of complex cognition grounded in "bodily experience and feeling" (Johnson 41), then schooling must take up these other modes as essential ways of coming to know" (Miller and McVee 150). Multimodal projects hold the potential for students to create an experience of learning through exercising more of their senses, making learning more durable and meaningful.
Mnemonics
Mnemonic devices have been successful at improving memory since ancient times. However, in modern society we often under-emphasize their importance, especially in the composition classroom. Brown, Roediger, and McDaniels define mnemonic devices as "mental tools to help hold material in memory, cued for ready recall" (185). In this way, mnemonic devices help give information a memory structure to support itself in cognitive frameworks. Klemm recommends memory tricks like mnemonic devices, and visualizing ideas as complex images, to help students expand their working memory (Klemm as cited in Schwartz np). The kind of mnemonic devices cognitive studies recommend include abbreviations, memory palace (method of loci), Rhyme schemes, and songs (Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel 189). Abbreviations refer to using the first letter of each word in a list and making an abbreviated word from it, such as CCCC for the "Conference on College Composition and Communication." Using abbreviations for long lists of information can help condense the material and allow working memory to store a much greater capacity of knowledge. The memory palace or method of loci was developed in ancient times and is used to connect material to visual spaces which one can call to mind to help remember and recall the material. As a student figuratively walks through the visual space that has concepts associated with the different aspects of the space, it acts as a recall tool to bring to working memory the information. In this way, a student is remembering the image of one space but it contains numerous associations which would normally be too much for working memory to hold. Rhyme schemes associate a rhyme with the information which allows the student to remember one thing in working memory (the rhyme) but call upon numerous associations in the process of recall. Songs work similarly to rhymes in that they associate a larger amount of information into a song which is already familiar and built into ones structural memory store. These devices can act as tools for students to remember greater amounts of information in working memory which allows for more long-term retention and retrieval. Plus, these methods build upon already existing memory structures that can help situate knowledge in the first place.
Imagery
In reception of knowledge, imagery holds a distinct advantage to other forms of learning. William Klemm, a neuroscience professor at Texas A&M University, says images are "like a zip file" and act as "a way to get your working memory to carry more" (as cited in Schwartz np). A single image can represent a "constellation of ideas" and increase working memory capacity (Schwartz np). Brown, Roediger, and McDaniels agree with the use of imagery in learning as "Imagery serves to contribute vividness and connective links to memory...Humans remember pictures more easily than words" (186). This affirms the use of multimodal projects and focus on visual literacy in the classroom. Fortunately, this is one of the ways that digital technology, with its emphasis on the visual, can help solidify learning in the classroom when students are cued to reflect upon, analyze, and engage in what they are seeing. These images can be useful tools for recall later.
Technology
While the potentials for internet, through imagery, to assist in learning are abundant in the digital age, the overwhelming amount of image, sound, and text online can sometimes make these sensory receptions ineffective. It would be more beneficial for students to slow down and focus in on deconstructing the elements of one web page rather scan through multiple in any one session. Taking time to analyze what students are seeing is important because the "visual image, sound, and content all must blend together to provide users with the sensory information that they need to interpret and respond to the program" (Hakansson 129). In addition, effective searching methods can limit information overload and help students process the images they are seeing. Effective searching requires "the ability to develop a broad overview of the topic, to integrate broad concepts by developing a basic understanding of words and related concepts that expand the topic, to locate information providers, to identify information resources and tools, and to search for relevant information" (Norton and Wiburg 168). Also students must learn to effectively sort the information they encounter online by considering the "validity" and "reliability" of information (Norton and Wiburg 170). While information overload can overwhelm the senses and invalid or unreliable information can be deceiving, despite the challenges in addressing these new technological concerns in the classroom the imagery available through the internet can act as a powerful tool for learning and improving memory. Tricot et al writes "People have been shown to recognize, retain, and recall images better than words. The simultaneous presentation of images, writing, dynamic graphics and sound has been shown to increase people's comprehension" (Tricot et al as cited by Jewitt 27). Striving to incorporate a greater focus on visual imagery in the classroom can help students to better conceptualize material from composition courses.
Technology is also a medium which students are already comfortable and have, likely, already begun building cognitive structures which support this kind of learning. Cynthia Selfe reminds us of the usefulness of visual literacy when she writes, "By adding a focus on visual literacy to our existing focus on alphabetic literacy, we may not only learn to pay more serious attention to the ways in which students are now ordering and making sense of the world through the production and consumption of visual images, but we may also extend the usefulness of composition studies in a changing world" (72). Howland, Jonassen, and Marra recommend videoconferencing as a way to increase sensory reception through technology in the classroom through online "courses and tutoring, virtual field trips, multi-school projects, and community connections." (115). Research has found that videoconferencing in the classroom "Increases motivation, improves communication and presentation skills, allows students to learn to ask better questions, increases communication with the outside world, lets students learn from a primary source rather than a textbook, and Increases the depth of understanding in subject area content" (Howland, Jonassen, and Marra 116). The kind of interactive experiences which technology provides through videoconferencing and other means improves sensory learning. While the challenges of technology still persist, proactive measures in the classroom to facilitate focused engagement with an emphasis on the visual aspects of technology can increase embodied learning, comprehension, and working memory storage.
Cognitive science has found that there are ways to push the potentials of working memory storage to increase capacity by utilizing more of the senses for intake. Brown, Roediger, and McDaniels assert, “The popular notion that you learn better when you receive instruction in a form consistent with your preferred learning style, for example as an auditory or visual learner, is not supported by the empirical research"...Instead, research suggests that we should “go wide” and draw upon all "aptitudes and resourcefulness" (4). Designing learning opportunities in the classroom that draw upon all of the senses help to bring in more information and package it in a way that working memory capacity supports. The following are examples of the types of activities that can be done in the composition classroom to engage all of the senses in learning.
Multimodal Projects
Multimodal projects engage more of the senses through what Miller and McVee call "Embodied Learning," which refers to learning that occurs through use of the senses to engage more deeply with the experience (150). Embodied learning takes place when "we actively integrate our knowledge into our existing conceptual frames in a process of complex cognition grounded in "bodily experience and feeling" (Johnson 41), then schooling must take up these other modes as essential ways of coming to know" (Miller and McVee 150). Multimodal projects hold the potential for students to create an experience of learning through exercising more of their senses, making learning more durable and meaningful.
Mnemonics
Mnemonic devices have been successful at improving memory since ancient times. However, in modern society we often under-emphasize their importance, especially in the composition classroom. Brown, Roediger, and McDaniels define mnemonic devices as "mental tools to help hold material in memory, cued for ready recall" (185). In this way, mnemonic devices help give information a memory structure to support itself in cognitive frameworks. Klemm recommends memory tricks like mnemonic devices, and visualizing ideas as complex images, to help students expand their working memory (Klemm as cited in Schwartz np). The kind of mnemonic devices cognitive studies recommend include abbreviations, memory palace (method of loci), Rhyme schemes, and songs (Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel 189). Abbreviations refer to using the first letter of each word in a list and making an abbreviated word from it, such as CCCC for the "Conference on College Composition and Communication." Using abbreviations for long lists of information can help condense the material and allow working memory to store a much greater capacity of knowledge. The memory palace or method of loci was developed in ancient times and is used to connect material to visual spaces which one can call to mind to help remember and recall the material. As a student figuratively walks through the visual space that has concepts associated with the different aspects of the space, it acts as a recall tool to bring to working memory the information. In this way, a student is remembering the image of one space but it contains numerous associations which would normally be too much for working memory to hold. Rhyme schemes associate a rhyme with the information which allows the student to remember one thing in working memory (the rhyme) but call upon numerous associations in the process of recall. Songs work similarly to rhymes in that they associate a larger amount of information into a song which is already familiar and built into ones structural memory store. These devices can act as tools for students to remember greater amounts of information in working memory which allows for more long-term retention and retrieval. Plus, these methods build upon already existing memory structures that can help situate knowledge in the first place.
Imagery
In reception of knowledge, imagery holds a distinct advantage to other forms of learning. William Klemm, a neuroscience professor at Texas A&M University, says images are "like a zip file" and act as "a way to get your working memory to carry more" (as cited in Schwartz np). A single image can represent a "constellation of ideas" and increase working memory capacity (Schwartz np). Brown, Roediger, and McDaniels agree with the use of imagery in learning as "Imagery serves to contribute vividness and connective links to memory...Humans remember pictures more easily than words" (186). This affirms the use of multimodal projects and focus on visual literacy in the classroom. Fortunately, this is one of the ways that digital technology, with its emphasis on the visual, can help solidify learning in the classroom when students are cued to reflect upon, analyze, and engage in what they are seeing. These images can be useful tools for recall later.
Technology
While the potentials for internet, through imagery, to assist in learning are abundant in the digital age, the overwhelming amount of image, sound, and text online can sometimes make these sensory receptions ineffective. It would be more beneficial for students to slow down and focus in on deconstructing the elements of one web page rather scan through multiple in any one session. Taking time to analyze what students are seeing is important because the "visual image, sound, and content all must blend together to provide users with the sensory information that they need to interpret and respond to the program" (Hakansson 129). In addition, effective searching methods can limit information overload and help students process the images they are seeing. Effective searching requires "the ability to develop a broad overview of the topic, to integrate broad concepts by developing a basic understanding of words and related concepts that expand the topic, to locate information providers, to identify information resources and tools, and to search for relevant information" (Norton and Wiburg 168). Also students must learn to effectively sort the information they encounter online by considering the "validity" and "reliability" of information (Norton and Wiburg 170). While information overload can overwhelm the senses and invalid or unreliable information can be deceiving, despite the challenges in addressing these new technological concerns in the classroom the imagery available through the internet can act as a powerful tool for learning and improving memory. Tricot et al writes "People have been shown to recognize, retain, and recall images better than words. The simultaneous presentation of images, writing, dynamic graphics and sound has been shown to increase people's comprehension" (Tricot et al as cited by Jewitt 27). Striving to incorporate a greater focus on visual imagery in the classroom can help students to better conceptualize material from composition courses.
Technology is also a medium which students are already comfortable and have, likely, already begun building cognitive structures which support this kind of learning. Cynthia Selfe reminds us of the usefulness of visual literacy when she writes, "By adding a focus on visual literacy to our existing focus on alphabetic literacy, we may not only learn to pay more serious attention to the ways in which students are now ordering and making sense of the world through the production and consumption of visual images, but we may also extend the usefulness of composition studies in a changing world" (72). Howland, Jonassen, and Marra recommend videoconferencing as a way to increase sensory reception through technology in the classroom through online "courses and tutoring, virtual field trips, multi-school projects, and community connections." (115). Research has found that videoconferencing in the classroom "Increases motivation, improves communication and presentation skills, allows students to learn to ask better questions, increases communication with the outside world, lets students learn from a primary source rather than a textbook, and Increases the depth of understanding in subject area content" (Howland, Jonassen, and Marra 116). The kind of interactive experiences which technology provides through videoconferencing and other means improves sensory learning. While the challenges of technology still persist, proactive measures in the classroom to facilitate focused engagement with an emphasis on the visual aspects of technology can increase embodied learning, comprehension, and working memory storage.