2010-2011 STEM BURSARY REPORT:
Mrs Ann Clements. Thornfield House School and Outreach Services
Professional Development Activity - Working Memory and Learning.
As children with speech and language impairments usually have poor visual and / or auditory memory, I was interested to learn how another element of memory, that is, working memory, could affect the academic progress of this group of children?
I contacted Dr. Tracy Packiam Alloway, the Director of the Centre for Memory and Learning in the Lifespan at the University of Stirling, who has published many articles and books on Working Memory and Learning and has carried out several large scale studies to investigate the impact of working memory difficulties on learning. She has deduced that working memory is the foundation of learning and is in fact the strongest predictor of learning outcomes.
Dr Alloway agreed to speak to the staff of Thornfield House School via a video link conference. Her presentation was entitled “Working Memory and Learning.” This allowed all staff (teachers, classroom assistants and speech and language therapists) to share the experience, gain knowledge and become aware of the problems faced by children with poor working memory.
The following questions were addressed and discussed;
· What is “Working Memory”?
· Why is it so important for academic progress?
· What impact will poor working memory have on a pupil’s ability to access the curriculum?
· Can working memory be improved through training?
· If working memory can be improved, will this transfer to academic attainment?
· How can a child with poor working memory be identified?
· What strategies should be followed to help children with poor working memory cope in the classroom?
Outcomes in terms of improved practice.
I now have a deeper understanding and knowledge of the impact of poor working memory on learning.
Working memory is the ability to store and process information over a short period of time. What is contained in our working memory may come from what we see, or hear, or from what we already know and is being held in our long term memory.
Working memory is essential for curricular activities from mental arithmetic, reading comprehension and even seemingly simple tasks such as copying from a board.
Working memory measures the potential to learn and, by training working memory, improvements can be seen in academic attainment.
I recognise the main characteristics of children with poor working memory and the difficulties they face in the classroom. These difficulties include;
· failing to follow multi-step instructions
· struggling with activities that combine storing and processing information
· problems in keeping track of their place in complex tasks
· inability to stay on a task and difficulty in maintaining attention
· presenting as unmotivated, inattentive or easily distracted
More specifically, children may have difficulty;
· remembering the beginning of a sentence, paragraph or story in order to understand the meaning of the whole
· organising sounds, words, sentences or stories
· remembering grammatical rules
· learning new vocabulary and concepts
· note taking or copying from the board
· learning and retrieving mathematical facts and applying these to problem solving
· rote learning
Benefits in pupils’ learning experiences.
Now, in planning and teaching I am mindful of the problems which pupils with poor working memory face, and structure lessons accordingly.
Activities within lessons are modified to reduce working memory loads;
· by using shorter sentences or by reducing the number of steps in an instruction
· by simplifying the grammatical structure of sentences
· by breaking down complex or multi-step tasks into separate independent units
I incorporate strategies to train working memory in teaching sessions, encouraging pupils to;
· ask for information to be repeated if necessary
· listen for information carrying words within sentences
· rehearse items using inner speech
· classify and categorise information to form links with existing knowledge
· visualise information to be remembered
· organise information through mind maps
· link sounds to actions / colour coding / story links
Other lesson activities are aimed at developing good visual, attention and listening skills.
Reflections.
I am grateful to the GTC NI for granting a STEM bursary enabling me to learn more about “Working Memory.” I believe the whole experience has extended my knowledge and hence effectiveness as a teacher of children with Speech Language Impairments. As an outreach teacher, supporting children at Stage 3c and Stage 5 of the Code of Practice in mainstream schools, I hope I can share this knowledge with classroom teachers and SENCos.
I especially enjoyed speaking to Dr. Alloway, who was generous with her time and sharing knowledge. In 2009 Dr. Alloway was awarded the prestigious Joseph Lister Award from the British Science Association for bringing her scientific discoveries to a wide audience and in February 2011 that audience included the staff of a small school in Whiteabbey.
I owe a huge “thank you” to my colleague Mrs Linda Cooke and the Technical Support Officer from C2K, without whom the conference would not have taken place.
Future plans / Suggestions for future development. (September 2011)
· Baseline assessment of the working memory of all pupils in Thornfield House School, using Standardised Working Memory Tests.
· Baseline assessment of the working memory of pupils on the Outreach Service caseload, using Standardised Working Memory Tests, where appropriate.
· Investigation of appropriate cognitive training resources to improve the working memory of pupils in Thornfield House School and, where appropriate, those on the Outreach Caseload.
· Assessment of improvement in working memory after cognitive training.
· Assessment of improvement in attainments after cognitive training.
· A study is to be undertaken by Dr. Tracy Alloway, on the impact of poor working memory on children with Speech and Language Impairments in Thornfield House School.