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Applying
Knowledge
Once
students have acquired new knowledge, they are typically asked to
apply it through assignments, projects and examinations. At this
stage, two basic questions are addressed:
1.)
What effective strategies can a student use for information recall?
2.)
How can a student take tests most effectively?
In
order to help improve studsent performance, teachers and practitioners
can provide students with a "bag of tricks" including the following:
Information
Recall
Metamemory
skills provide the student with awareness of strategies for recalling
information as well as the ability to use their repertoire of
strategies.
- Mnemonics
can be used to enhance memory. A simple mnemonic device consists
of association and grouping. For example, it might be very difficult
for students to remember a string of words such as panda,
Mexico, ear, Canada, hair, and tiger without grouping the
terms by category. The teacher may guide the students to observe
that two of the terms are Asian animals, two are parts of the
face, and two are North American countries. This not only helps
them solve the immediate task of remembering the six terms,
but, more importantly, adds a metamemory
process to the students' bag of tricks.
- Acronyms
are another metamemory "trick" that students can use
to recall information.
- A
slightly more advanced trick is the use of acrostics.
In
order to help students select mnemonics and to create appropriate
acronyms and acrostics, the LISTS
strategy and the FIRST
sub-strategy are effective. These strategies help students to scan
material for testable items, group the items, and transfer the material
to easy-to-use index cards.
- Visualization
is a good trick for helping students in spelling as well as other
types of information recall. In this strategy, students close
their eyes and remember what a word or a concept looks like.
- The
keyword
method is a visualization strategy that incorporates pictures
in order to acquire new vocabulary or other concepts. Students
can construct a picture illustrating their definition. Here is
an example of a keyword picture generated for the word truculent.
-
A simple short-term memory strategy is verbal
rehearsal. This strategy simply has a student repeat information
to him or herself. The strategy is most successful when there
is a limited amount of time between the stages at which a student
must acquire, recall and apply information.
Test-taking
preparation
Current
changes in accountability policy have resulted in ever greater numbers
of special education students participating in assessments. Taking
a test requires students to engage several levels of skills and
knowledge: 1) they must have learned and understood the content
to be tested; 2) they must know how to apply their knowledge; and
3) they must have skills specific to test-taking itself.
Many
students with disabilities need explicit instruction in test-taking
skills. At the same time, such instruction cannot replace mastery
of the material. An important part of test preparation, therefore,
consists in helping students to study effectively and to achieve
to their greatest potential throughout the years of schooling, college
and beyond. These strategies are addressed in the sections on preparing
to learn and acquiring knowledge.
Tips
for teaching test-taking skills:
- Schedule
regular periods of time for review.
This sample
schedule can provide a concrete example to students of how
to allot time.
-
Create study guides to facilitate the review. Students may create
keyword
pictures, flash
cards, and other mnemonics
to facilitate the study process.
-
A student should also prepare him or herself by finding out as
much as they can about the test from the teacher. While teachers
will not always be able to share everything that will be on a
test, students may find it worthwhile to ask about:
- format
of test
- types
of questions
- how
much the test is worth
- date
of test
- time
allotted for test
- whether
or not books or notes are allowed ("open-" vs. "closed-"
book tests)
- information
covered
- teacher
recommendations of how and what to study
- Encourage
students during practice sessions to guess what might be asked
on the test. This makes a good exercise for cooperative groups.
Each group is asked to come up with a list of questions they think
will be on the test. Groups may then trade questions and attempt
to answer them.
-
Help students develop confidence. It is important to have students
think positively about their abilities before and during the exam.
Once a teacher has imparted a series of test-taking skills, the
she or he should then make sure students are comfortable using
the skills on the exam, and that each student has experienced
success in applying the skills. One way to do this is to provide
ample opportunities for students to be successful taking practice
tests.
- Emphasize
to students that they should exhaust their entire repertoire of
strategies before determining that they cannot solve a test question.
- The
PIRATES
strategy has been shown to be particularly effective for objective
tests. Bos and Vaughn found that students with learning disabilities
who used this strategy increased their performance by 20 to 40
percentage points.
- For
less frequent essay tests, the ANSWER
strategy can be employed.
EMSTAC
1000 Thomas Jefferson St., NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20007 |
Tel:
(202) 944-5300
TTY: 1-877-334-3499
Fax: (202) 944-5454
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