Memory and thought: make sure your engaging activities don’t detract from what students need to learn

We remember what we think about. -  Willingham What does it mean? It is surprisingly easy to forget things. We couldn’t cope with the sheer volume of sensory or cognitive information we encounter so we prioritise remembering things we have thought about because there’s a good chance we might need that information again. This does mean, however, that we can sometimes remember things that are not very useful or forget things we wanted to remember just because of the nature of our thinking at the time. In a school context, for example, a student might remember that they built a Tudor house in year 4, but not remember anything about the Tudors; they might burn some magnesium and remember the flash, but not remember the chemical equation that was ‘taught’ later that lesson. What are the implications for teachers? Plan lessons so that students spend the maximum time thinking about the specific learning at hand – the meaning of the words and concepts – not extraneous mate