How to Tap Memory Systems to Deepen Learning
Memorization can get a bad rap in education debates, conjuring images of mindless repetition or a “drill and kill” pedagogy. After all, why memorize something when we can look it up on our phone?
But memory is inextricably tied to learning. “You don’t really really learn anything unless you have it in your long-term memory,” says Barbara Oakley, co-author of the new book " Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn ." When teachers have a better understanding of the brain’s memory systems, they can help students develop stronger study habits and engage them in deep learning.
Our brains are wired to acquire “biologically primary material” with very little effort – think of a toddler learning their first language. Oakley calls this the “easy stuff.” Biologically secondary material – or “the hard stuff” – includes skills that we haven’t yet evolved to do, but that we can acquire and store in our long-term memory with instruction and practice. These include reading, writing and mathematics.
In classrooms, some students absorb and master these skills faster than others. Oakley calls these “race car learners” who zoom to the finish line. In contrast “other students have hiker brains,” says Oakley. “They get to the finish line, but more slowly.”
