Supporting Students’ Working Memory in the Classroom
Most people are familiar with the terms short-term and long-term memory but our memory is a complex system and having a better understanding of how it works can be crucial for supporting students in the classroom.
Our long-term memory stores information about important facts, skills, or events in our lives, for example, remembering our pin number, wedding day, or skills such as riding a bike. Our short-term memory is like a mental notepad where we can store information but only for a few seconds. A person’s working memory allows them to use or manipulate the information in their short-term memory to achieve a particular purpose. For example, solving mental calculations.
Our working memories are a key part of functioning in everyday life but it’s especially important for students. Everyone has a different working memory capacity, with some having more than others. However, there are strategies that we can employ in the classroom to support students with a reduced working memory capacity. The first step is recognizing if students have an issue with their working memory. Here are some signs that can help identify students.
6 signs a student has a reduced working memory capacity
Tasks take longer
If a student has a reduced working memory, they may take longer to generally complete tasks. These students can often find remembering more than a couple of steps at a time challenging and as a result, may take longer than others to complete an activity.
Unfinished tasks
One consequence of taking longer to complete tasks can mean students often just don’t complete work within the time. You may notice that these students have multiple pieces of work that remain unfinished across all subjects.
Spelling errors
You may notice that these students often misspell words, even when copying words off the board or from a text in front of them. They may repeatedly look at the board or text but will still make errors when spelling the word. They may even have trouble copying simple information like the date.
Verbal instructions
You may think you have given a few simple instructions, such as “put your book on the back table, get a pencil and come to the mat” but a student struggling with their working memory may only remember one of these steps. They can often seem confused and unsure of what to do next as they are unable to remember all the steps, let alone the sequence.
Mental math
Mental calculations in particular rely on your working memory so for these students math can be especially stressful. Solving a simple calculation mentally requires carrying out the calculation, then holding the answer in your short-term memory, before completing the final step of the calculation. For example, to carry out 23 + 13, the student would have to add the tens, hold the answer in their short-term memory while they add the ones and then add the two answers together. Even simple calculations like this can be challenging so you can see how multi-step math problems could be daunting for students who have a reduced working memory capacity.
Keeping place
Issues with working memory can also cause students to lose their place when reading or writing. Losing their place when reading, in particular, can mean that students not only take longer to read texts but can then struggle to comprehend what they have read. This in turn can make it harder for students to enjoy reading as the plot can often seem confusing.
This is not an exhaustive list and there may be other signs that a student has a reduced working memory capacity, however, once these students have been identified, there are several strategies that can be put into place to support them.
Strategies to support students with a reduced working memory capacity
Repetition, repetition, repetition!
Repetition is an important and often underutilized strategy. Repeating the same information in multiple ways can help students remember and recall more of it. This can include repeating key pieces of information at the beginning of lessons as well as throughout the lesson to ensure students know what to do and have all the information they need to succeed.
Delivery
The way we relay instructions or information can be just as important. Make a point to speak slowly and clearly and check that you have the student’s full attention. Finding a quiet place to give and review instructions can ensure that students are not distracted and can help them retain more of the information.
Written, audio and visual instructions
Writing down instructions or key information for students with working memory issues can be invaluable. Students are then free to refer to this as often as they need to without feeling embarrassed or needing to ask for additional help. This can not only reduce their anxiety but will also make it more likely that they complete the task in the given timeframe. Using technology to create audio instructions can also be useful as well as using visual aids for younger students.
Active recall
Active recall is a great strategy to help engage students and ensure they have understood the information. Break down the instructions or information into 2 to 4 steps. Then ask students to recall these steps in their own words. This strategy will also help you identify what information students have missed and allow you to fill these gaps before they begin.
Pre-teaching
Introducing new vocabulary before a lesson begins can help reduce the load of new information on students’ working memories and allow them to focus more of their attention on the task. It can also help students’ confidence going into the lesson and provide some context, especially if it’s a new unit of study.
Chunking instructions
Rather than giving students all the information at once, chunking it into smaller steps can reduce the burden on their working memories. Information or instructions can be organized into phases and then given to students as they complete each phase. Each student will have a different working memory capacity so having a good understanding of your student’s limits will be helpful when implementing this strategy and deciding how many steps to include in each phase.
Recognizing the signs of students with a reduced working memory capacity is crucial as, without this understanding, they can often be labeled as “lazy” or “disengaged”. By implementing these strategies, you don’t need to change the outcome of the lesson or adjust the expectations for these students. These modifications will allow students with a reduced working memory capacity to access the lesson and be just as successful as their peers.
Key Takeaway
- Everyone has a different working memory capacity
- There are strategies that can be used to support students with a reduced working memory
- Repetition is vital when learning a new skill
- Ensure new skills are taught slowly and clearly and with few distractions
- Provide information using different senses
- Pre-teach key vocabulary
- Provide information in chunks
- Use active recall strategies such as encouraging students to repeat key information in their own words