Working memory and science education: conclusions and implications

Norman, Reid L.

doi:10.1080/02635140902853681

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Numerous studies have shown that capacity of working memory correlates with academic success as indicated by tests and examinations (Reid 2009a(Reid , 2009b. The long series of publications by Baddeley (1986Baddeley ( , 1994Baddeley ( , 1996Baddeley ( , 2000Baddeley ( , 2002Baddeley ( , 2003Baddeley and Hitch 1974;Baddeley and Logie 1999) have elucidated the nature and function of working memory, while St Clair- Thompson and Botton (2009) have discussed how these findings apply in the sciences.…”

Section: Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Organismal level: students can see, touch, smell and describe (Kapteijn 1990;Johnstone 1991) Cellular level: mental pictures explaining or describing macroscopic observations (Marbach-Ad and Stavy 2000) Biochemical level: not directly visible at all in living organisms (Kapteijn 1990;Marbach-Ad and Stavy 2000) Representational level: observations represented by symbols, formulae, mathematics and graphs (Johnstone 1991) Johnstone (Johnstone and Kellet 1980;El-Banna 1986, 1989;Johnstone 1991Johnstone , 1997 was perhaps first to appreciate that the capacity of working memory was a key factor in making sense of student learning difficulties, while the impact on performance has been discussed by Reid (2008Reid ( , 2009b. The extensive work of Gathercole (Gathercole and Packiam 2008) has related limitations in working memory to learning, especially at primary stages.…”

Section: Symbolicmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Following the work of Miller (1956), who showed that what he called 'short-term memory' had a fixed and limited capacity that could be easily measured, it was demonstrated that limitations in working memory capacity controlled all learning (Johnstone 1991;Baddeley 2002;Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark 2006;Reid 2009b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Genetics at school level: addressing the difficulties

Chu¹,

Norman

2012

Research in Science & Technological Education

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: A wide range of studies has offered suggestions why genetics is difficult and some of their key findings are summarised. Underpinning all of this is the way the brain works when handling information. The limitations of working memory capacity offer an interpretation of these difficulties Purpose: The aim is to confirm that working memory capacity (and the related concept of field dependency) controls performance in understanding genetics and whether it is possible to improve performance by changing the teaching approach to mininise overload. Programme description: The curriculum in Taiwan in genetics is outlined briefly. A wide range of measurements were made. Using a diagnostic test of understanding of underpinning ideas, the key areas of weakness were detected before the pupils started the course. Sample: Stage 1: 141 students in Taiwan, aged 13, boys and girls, drawn from a cross-section of Taiwanese pupils at this age, following their first course in genetics. Stage 2: 361 students, drawn from a cross-section of Taiwanese pupils at the same age, and divided into two groups (experimental-control) which both encompass the same ability range. Design and methods: Stage 1: test of pre-knowledge using structural communication grids, applied before the course commenced; working memory capacity using the figural intersection test; extent of field dependency using the group embedded figure test; understanding of genetics was measured at end of course; school test data collated. Stage 2: following a completely revised approach, performance in genetics was measured using traditional school tests and a word association test. Student perspectives were measured. Results: The test of pre-knowledge revealed key areas of difficulty. In addition, it was found that working memory capacity and extent of field dependency both correlated extremely highly with all measures of performance. Given that it has been established that working memory capacity controls performance, working memory demand explains why genetics is difficult. It was found that re-structuring the teaching approach to minimise mental overload brought about a very marked improvement in performance. Conclusions: The findings suggest that it is possible to reduce difficulties in understanding genetics by means of teaching re-design to minimise potential working memory overload, with concomitant improvements in learner confidence.

show abstract

Section: Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Symbolicmentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Genetics at school level: addressing the difficulties

Chu¹,

Norman

2012

Research in Science & Technological Education

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A literatura científica ressalta que compreender os conceitos de Genética é difícil porque se trata de um conteúdo complexo que exige muita abstração (KILIÇ e SAGLAM, 2014) e que a dificuldade em compreender conceitos complexos e abstratos está vinculada a problemas no processamento cerebral, como limitações na memória de trabalho (REID, 2009). A memória de trabalho será descrita com maiores detalhes na sequência do texto.…”

Section: Ensino De Genéticaunclassified

“…Alguns autores afirmam que a dificuldade em compreender conceitos complexos e abstratos está vinculada a problemas no processamento cerebral, como limitações na memória de trabalho (REID, 2009 Segundo a literatura neurocientífica, as reações emocionais apresentam manifestações subjetivas, comportamentais e fisiológicas. As manifestações subjetivas referem-se ao sentimento consciente de prazer ou desprazer despertado pelas emoções.…”

Section: )unclassified

Interlocução entre neurociência e aprendizagem significativa: uma proposta teórica para o ensino de genética

Santos

Francisco

Klein

et al. 2016

RBECT

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Este artigo de revisão bibliográfica se propôs a verificar a possibilidade de associar os conhecimentos neurocientíficos com a Teoria da Aprendizagem Significativa de Ausubel como proposta teórica para facilitar o ensino e aprendizagem de Genética. Os resultados desta revisão mostraram que os conceitos centrais da Teoria da Aprendizagem Significativa (estrutura cognitiva, conhecimentos prévios, aprendizagem mecânica e significativa, mapas conceituais) apresentam um forte correlato neurofisiológico, por isso a interlocução entre Neurociência e Aprendizagem Significativa é possível. Diante disso, conclui-se que a Neurociência associada à Teoria da Aprendizagem Significativa resulta em uma abordagem neurocognitiva, que possibilita uma melhor compreensão dos mecanismos neurais e cognitivos envolvidos no processo de ensino e aprendizagem e, a partir disso, pode oferecer subsídios teóricos e práticos importantes para o trabalho docente, facilitando a aprendizagem significativa de Genética. PALAVRAS-CHAVE:Neurociência. Aprendizagem significativa. Ensino de genética.

show abstract

Learner Characteristics

Norman¹,

Ali²

2020

Springer Texts in Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Working memory and science education: conclusions and implications

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Genetics at school level: addressing the difficulties

Genetics at school level: addressing the difficulties

Interlocução entre neurociência e aprendizagem significativa: uma proposta teórica para o ensino de genética

Learner Characteristics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About