FCS FLASH: Repeat to Remember
Attachment: Forgetting Curve
FCS FLASH ISSUE Number 93: November 12, 2008
Now thru November 26: Davis: Textile Exhibit <Link>
Now thru December 5: Throughout California: CCCECE Fall Regional Meetings <Link> & Other Important Dates
Now thru January 4: San Diego: Kimono as Art Exhibit <Link>
November 13: Downey: Explore the World of Organic Foods <Download>
November 21-25: National Harbor, MD: Gerontological Society of America Annual Conference <Link>
November 22: San Jose: Threads of Wisdom: The Artful Approach Four Fiber Artists <Link>
December 3-4: Sacramento: 2008 Joint Special Populations Conference <Link>
December 4-6: Charlotte, NC: ACTE Convention & Career Expo <Link>
January 25: Los Angeles: Autry National Center: Cut from a Different Cloth <Linkp>
March 15-19: Las Vegas: Joint Conference National Council on Aging/American Society on Aging <Link>
March 26-28: Sacramento: CAEYC Conference <Link> California Association for the Education of Young Children
April 22-24: Lake Arrowhead: 2009 Workforce Leaders Institute <Link>
September 25-26: Sacramento: CSA Western Region, 2009 Symposium "Costume in the American West" Call For Papers <Link>
New FCS Site in Transition: We are in the process of getting our new FCS site up and running. We should have most of the data transferred to the new site shortly. In the meantime, you will want to read Part II of Allan Guttman's series "If it Ain't Broke-the Fixes <Link> " and a report on the CLDC's recent Student Career Day, in the current edition of their newsletter, Direct Link <Link> . Finally, check out two new FCS job postings here <Link> .
FCS FLASH ACTIVITY: Repeat to Remember
Today's FLASH focuses on yet another strategy for more effective teaching and learning: the power of repetition. Unfortunately, students forget much of the information they learn in class as soon as they walk out the door because a great deal of memory loss occurs in the first hour or two after initial exposure. Fortunately, this loss can be lessened by repeated exposure to the information in specifically timed intervals. By learning about the relationship between repetition and memory, students can figure out how to retain and retrieve information more readily.
Try This:
Review the 3 slides in the attached PowerPoint to learn more about the forgetting curve and what to do to flatten the curve. Here are comments to use as you bring up each slide. (Additional information will appear on slides 2 and 3 when you click the mouse button.)
* Slide One: Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1906) found that the rate people forget was highly predictable. A significant amount of information is forgotten within twenty minutes of learning it; over half of the material learned is forgotten within an hour.
* Slide Two: Although we forget almost two thirds of what we learn within a day, retention does not decline much beyond that point. With just one review, you can expect to recall about two thirds of the new information you learned for several weeks.
* Slide Three: With multiple reviews of the information, you will remember more. If you review the information frequently, up to four times, you will see a dramatic improvement. One good learning session and four quick reviews should put what you've learned into your long-term memory.
To reinforce the information learned, distribute this activity guide <Link> for students to review.
Give them time to read the info and then ask them some questions about how they will use this information.
FYI: Memories are so volatile that you have to repeat to remember. <Link> John Medina, author, Brain Rules
This newsletter was brought to you by a grant from the California Community College Chancellor's Office Family and Consumer Science Collaborative Grant (#06-0160).
Please contact Joann Driggers (jdriggers@mtsac.edu) with any questions.
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