The Learning Pyramid

2. The Learning Pyramid Average Retention Rate after 24 hours 5% 10% 20% 30% 50% 75% 90% Created by NTL Institute of Alexandria VA Information recalled after 24 hours is presumed to be in long-term memory storage.

3. Primacy-Recency Effect How to Make the Most of the Time You Have with Students

4. Primacy - Recency Effect • During a learning episode, we remember best that which comes first, second best that which comes last, and least that which comes just past the middle. Based on How the Brain Learns (2nd ed.) by David A. Sousa

5. DIRECTIONS • Stare at the list on the next slide for 12 seconds. • The timer will go off when time is up. • You should memorize the combinations of letters and their order in the list of 10. • While the list is showing, you may not write anything down on your paper.

6. DIRECTIONS • KEF • LAK • MIL • NIR • VEK • LUN • NEM • BEB • SAR • FIF

7. Make Your List! • Write the letters you remember on the lines 1 – 10. • They must be complete and in the correct position on the list.

8. How did you do? • Mark the ones that you got correct. • To be correct, they must be spelled correctly and in the proper position on the list.

9. DIRECTIONS • KEF • LAK • MIL • NIR • VEK • LUN • NEM • BEB • SAR • FIF

10. This is the Primacy – Recency Effect • Most people remember the first 3 – 5 words and last 1 – 2 (lines 9 and 10) but have the most difficulty with the middle (lines 6 – 8).

11. Implications for Teaching • New information and closure are best presented during the Prime Time periods. • Practice and activities using the new information is best done during the down time.

12. Prime-time 1 Prime-time 2 Down-time practice New Information closure PRIMACY – RECENCY EFFECT 0 10 20 30 40 MINUTES

13. Implications for Lesson Planning • As the learning episodes are shortened, the down-time decreases faster than the prime times. • There is a higher probability of effective learning if the episodes are short and meaningful. • Two 20 minute lessons provide 20% more prime time than one 40 lesson.

14. Implications for Classroom Management • A compilation of 18 action research studies in secondary classrooms compared the degree of focus (on task to off task) behavior between lesson segments of a class period. • Off task behavior increased when learning segments were more than 20 – 25 minutes in length.

15. When Managing the Classroom, Try to AVOID • Dangling: • Teacher leaves a topic and introduces new, unrelated material • Flip-flop: • like dangling, except that the teacher inserts left-over materials from a previous lesson

16. Also Avoid… • Thrust: • Teacher forgets to give clear instructions at the appropriate time of a lesson. • Teacher must then re-explain the instructions to each student on an individual level • Stimulus-bound: • Teacher is distracted by an outside stimulus and draws the class’s attention to it

17. Primacy-Recency Effect Learning Potential Beginning Middle End of Lesson of Lesson of Lesson • True sequence for maximizing learning according to what we know about memory

18. Primacy-Recency Effect Learning Potential Beginning Middle End of Lesson of Lesson of Lesson • How some teachers sequence a lesson

19. Primacy-Recency Effect Learning Potential Beginning Middle End of Lesson of Lesson of Lesson • How some teachers sequence a lesson • True sequence for maximizing learning according to what we know about memory

20. Primacy-Recency Effect Learning Potential Beginning Middle End of Lesson of Lesson of Lesson • How some teachers sequence a lesson • True sequence for maximizing learning according to what we know about memory