There has existed for many years a memory enhancement technique ("memory pegs") that although having dramatic demonstrable success in some individual cases has not been generally applied in education. The emergence of constructivist epistemology has emphasised the notion that learning occurs as a result of connecting new material with previously learnt concepts. There is, therefore, the implication that effective learning requires some previous knowledge upon which to attach new concepts - and thus realisation of the importance of learning with respect to acquiring factual information as a prerequisite to learning new processes and/or skills. This issue has focussed my attention on the need to ensure that the more physiological skills of accessing 'memory', both for learning and recall, are optimised for maximum learning. Further, there are some indications that the physiological skills of memory access (storage and retrieval) may respond favourably to training and 'exercise'. This study was designed to find out whether or not a repeated 'exercise' using a simple memory enhancement technique would lead to a determinable and statistically significant increase in overall performance in a range of cognitive skills (as indicated by science and mathematics examination results), whether learning such a technique would affect a student's attitudes towards science, whether there was a relationship between the amount of time spent practicing the technique and the degree of effect, and whether the memory technique did actually improve the ability to recall lists of objects.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/223152 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Parsons, Darryl C |
| Publisher | Curtin University of Technology, Science and Mathematics Education Centre. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | unrestricted |
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