Boston University | CET | In the Classroom | General Guidelines on Grading at BU

Learning and the Brain

Based on a CET workshop presented by Prof. Chantal Stern, Department of Psychology, Boston University (April 25, 2007)

PDF file of Prof. Stern's Slides

Recent research on what areas of the brain are active during the learning process can help guide the classroom activities we offer to students. Here is a brief synopsis of the different manners in which humans store and retrieve memories.

Memory Storage and Retrieval

In the act of memorizing, our brains encode information. The information is stored either in the long-term or short-term memory sections of our brain. The short-term memory can be used readily, but is lost if the information is not encoded also in the long-term memory. When we recall the information from long-term memory, our brain transfers it to the short-term section. Obviously, we wish to help students to store the material in our their courses to their long-term memories and then be able to recall it freely when needed.

Different Types of Long-term Memory

Procedural memory: learning of skills.

Episodic memory: associated with events. For example, the students may recall a principle when they remember a demonstration that you did in class.

Semantic memory: facts. You don't recall when you acquired it, but it has become part of your "general knowledge." Instructors usually want to expand this type of memory in the minds of their students.

Working memory: this allows a person to use the memory to analyze, manipulate things, solve problems in a flexible way, and exhibit other higher-level mental skills. This is the most highly valued type of memory that we hope our students will attain.

Note on recollection vs. familiarity: we often recognize that we've encountered some information previously, but could not recall it without a cue. Students often mistake this familiarity with true learning. Therefore, simply asking the students whether they remember some information can give the instructor a misleading impression.

Methods for Development of Memory

Procedural memory: This is best developed via hands-on activities such as labs, practice sessions, and role playing.

Episodic memory: Memorable presentations can imprint the memory in students' minds. For example, you can emphasize the material with a demonstration, a video, a song, a cartoon or some other attention-grabbing device.

Semantic memory: A variety of delivery methods can provide students with multiple paths to retrieve the information. For example, you can introduce the topic in a lecture, then follow up with readings, discussion, a video, or role playing.

Working memory: This can be reinforced by activities that provide opportunities for the students to monitor a situation, manipulate a device or data, work on complex problems individually or as a group, engage in role playing, etc. The more ways that a student uses the information, the stronger the encoding will be. Repetition of the material in different manners by the instructor can also reap a similar benefit.

Important Considerations

Sleep is critical to the consolidation of memory; when advising students, remind them of this. So is attention at the time of encoding. Before covering particularly important information, make sure that you have the attention of the students.

Learning in chunks, i.e., breaking the information into digestible bits helps (e.g., in the way the most of use recall a phone number).

State-dependent learning: it is generally easier to recall information if a person is in a similar state as when it was encoded. Holding an exam in a different environment than the usual classroom can inhibit the ability to recall the material.

Tests of students' knowledge should probe their ability to recall and apply the information. Some formats such as multiple-choice questions can test familiarity rather than true recall if they are not designed carefully. In general, a mixture of different types of questions - e.g., multiple-choice, fill-in, short prose, essays, problem-solving, description of images and their meanings - can determine the degree to which students have encoded the material into their long-term memory and how well they can apply it to situations not yet studied.

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