Guide to Successful Courseware Design Part 3: Memory
Memory In-and-Out
Memory is the foundation of learning. Understanding how memory works is crucial when creating great learning experiences. Successful learning requires encoding and retrieval of memories. Being able to remember what you’ve learned demonstrates knowledge, but to truly understand what has been learned requires retrieval, manipulation, combination and innovation using the information that has been learned.
“No study, pursued under compulsion, remains rooted in the memory.”
Plato
Types of Memory
There are several different types of memory that are encoded and retrieved in distinct ways:
Declarative or Semantic Memory
Declarative or semantic memory relates to the knowledge of facts, figures, dates, etc. - e.g. WWII ended in 1945. A great way to help your learners remember this type of information is by taking advantage of mnemonic techniques. This could be in the form of an invented word or abbreviation such as BODMAS (brackets, orders, division, multiplication, addition, and subtraction) or even through turning the information that needs to be remembered into a tune (I can still remember the number for Hastings Direct in the UK: 0800 00 1066 because of the terrible jingle 14 years on).
Episodic or Autobiographical Memory
Episodic or autobiographical memory relates to events or episodes from one’s own life and experiences - e.g. “I remember receiving a Sega Mega Drive for Christmas in 1992”. To take advantage of this in your learning, try and make references to common or shared experiences, such as asking the learner to “remember when you were first learning to ride a bike”.
Conditioned Memory
Conditioned memories might also sometimes be referred to as conditioned reflexes. In short, they’re reactions to certain stimuli. A poignant but rather negative example of this can be seen in people who suffer from PTSD, where certain environmental triggers can cause a cascade of vivid memories. On a more simplistic level, we have the example of Pavlov’s dogs: a bell rings, causing the dogs to begin salivating in anticipation of food that the bell always precedes.
When creating courseware, this will often relate to the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) - ensuring that you use appropriate styling and theming throughout your course ensures that the learner understands what it is that they’re looking at and engaging with - e.g. consistent use of colours, fonts, and interaction types to denote the type of content.
If the user is looking at something that is green, culturally in the West, we are conditioned to interpret this as something that is good/permissive; yellow/orange is caution/alert; red is attention/stop/danger - e.g. traffic lights. This is only one example, but there is a whole school of study on the topic called Semiotics which may be of interest to the intrepid learning designer.
Procedural Memory
Procedural memory relates to knowledge and understanding of the process and procedures required to create a particular outcome (this is sometimes referred to as muscle memory). A great example of this is with sportspersons: A footballer who repeatedly practices kicking a ball so that it bends to the top-right corner of the goal will develop the procedural memory to inform their technique in such a way that they become more proficient at doing it. A great way of incorporating this into your learning experiences is by creating a step list that the learner can take away and practice regularly until they can do it automatically.
Flash Bulb Memory
This is generally an event that causes the person experiencing it to remember the event in vivid detail. Everyone who was alive and old enough to remember will know where they were when the 9/11 attacks took place. They are almost always shocking episodes that sear themselves into the memory of the person experiencing them. It’s often difficult to take advantage of this type of memory due to the shocking nature of it, but when it is employed tactfully, it can yield amazing results. The best examples are used in health and safety compliance training. The example below is a great (if not to the point of comically absurd) example of shocking the learner in such a way that they will immediately be able to recall what it is that was being taught:
Repetition and Memory
Repeating an action or behaviour is a tried and tested method to encode memories so that they can be better recalled in the future. Some great examples of this that you’ll probably remember from your youth are things like learning your times tables. This is something that actors regularly have to do. Repetition is essential for introducing behavioural change in people and is strongly linked to a conditioned memory.
Repetition helps to flatten the Ebbinghaus or Forgetting Curve, which models the decline of memory over time. In short, the more that you repeat an action or otherwise bring something into your mind, the less likely you are to forget it, particularly if it is done regularly.
Further Reading
If you’re interested in learning more about memory, a great place to start is with the works of Hermann Ebbinghaus and Eric Kandel - two pioneers of research into memory. For more of an overview, try reading Memory: A Short Introduction by Jonathan K. Foster.
If you’d like to find out more about creating successful courseware, check out our Guide to Successful Courseware Part 1, Guide to Successful Courseware Part 2 or wait for next week’s part in the series, where we discuss how to get and sustain the learner’s attention.
