1. Brain-Based Learning Week 3
PowerPoint Outline

2. Information Processing Model
Sensory Working Long-Term
Memory Memory Memory
Attention
This Section
Remember to fill in the brain advanced organizer from the webinar.

3. Working Memory Model
Working Memory
Focus 10-20 min. in a
single mode
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Out is Out!
Once data has made it into the working memory it means that we are now deliberately, consciously processing it.
Adapted from memory is limited in both the amount of information it can deal with at one time and in how long it can
The working Information Processing Model: http://192.107.108.56/portfolios/m/murra_k/final/imp.html
remain focused on it.
We can keep this data on the work table of our working memory for 18-36 hours on average, although we have to
vary the way in which we are processing it every 20 minutes. Since it is only in working memory, it means that

4. Read Working Memory
Handout
Working Memory (Short-Term Memory)1
Purpose: Short-term memory is the “workplace” of your memory. It is
where you manipulate and use stored information. It contains the information
you are actively using (e.g., thinking) – your conscious thought. That’s why
short-term memory is now called “working memory.” Thoughts, sensations
and feelings that you are aware of are temporarily stored in your “working
memory.” Working memory is like the RAM of a computer.
Duration: Consider this scenario. You want to call a friend so you look up his/her phone #.
You don’t have pen/paper nearby, so you repeat the number to yourself as you dial. However,
the number is busy, and while you were waiting to redial the number, someone interrupted you
with a question. Will you have to look up the phone number again? Chances are – the answer is
YES because you will have forgotten the sequence of numbers. That’s because the DURATION
of working memory is very short – 15-30 seconds. The only way you can keep information in
working memory longer than 15-30 seconds is to repeat the information over and over OR to
process the information – think about it - use the information in some way. Working memory is
very vulnerable to interruption and interference.
Capacity: Read the string of letters below. Then, close your eyes and try to repeat them in the
same order. IBG EHS TAC HET GTO
Did you remember all 15 letters? If you’re like most folks, why not? The reason you probably
didn’t remember all 15 letters is because this exceeds the CAPACITY of working memory.
Now, read the words below. Then, close your eyes and try to repeat them in the same order.
BIG SHE CAT THE GOT
Did you remember all five of the words? Most people can do this. Even though you still had to
remember 15 letters, this time the letters were arranged into five words. It’s easier to remember
five words than it is to remember 15 individual letters. When letters are presented as individual
letters, each letter is a “unit of meaning” – a chunk of information. However, when the letters
are used to form words, each word becomes one unit of meaning – a chunk. So, instead of
having to remember 15 units of meaning, you only had to remember 5 chunks of information
(the five individual words). Now, read the next sentence: She got the big cat.
This sentence should be very easy to remember because the sentence becomes one “chunk.”
The capacity of your working memory is approximately 7 “chunks” of information. “Chunking”
is the process of combining information together into units of meaning, or chunks. For example
a word is a “chunk” of letters, a sentence is a “chunk” of words. Experiments have shown that
people can hold somewhere between 5-9 chunks of information in working memory at one time.
Therefore, the capacity of working memory is consider to be 7 2 chunks (7 plus or minus 2) of
information.
1
Sources: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f97/projects97/Warren.html;
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/memory.html; http://library.thinkquest.org/26618/en-5.2.3=Short-term%20memory.htm;
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761578303/Memory_(psychology).html http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/memory.html http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110291/basic/brain/short.php
; ; ;
http://www.gpc.edu/~bbrown/psyc1501/memory/; http://www.gpc.edu/~bbrown/psyc1501/memory/

5. Respond to Discussion Board 1
Learn about chunking!

6. Explore the Website Link Related to
Working Memory
 http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Memory%2C_short_term

7. Post some thoughts about
working memory to discussion
board 2

8. What are graphic organizers?
Read the Graphic Organizer Handout
and explore the websites.
Advanced (Graphic) Organizers
Advanced organizers are powerful organizers for focusing students’ attention. The following
example relates to the topics of learning and memory.
Agree/Disagree Chart
Agree Disagree
1. Younger people remember more than older people.
2. Age has nothing to do with memory.
3. Memory is stored in one area of the brain.
4. You only have enough immediate memory space for a phone number.
5. Females have better memories than males.
6. You never forget how to ride a bike.
7. It is easier to forget than to remember.
8. Smells trigger certain memories.
Advance organizers call on prior knowledge. If the students have no previous experience with
the subject, you can ask them to make an attempt to agree or disagree. When the unit is nearly
finished, give students another opportunity to read the statements and agree or disagree. They
can compare the original chart with the recent one. Some students are amazed at what they have
learned, while others pat themselves on the back for what they already knew.
Information adapted from: How to Teach So Students Remember by Marilee Sprenger
Graphic Organizer Examples
Review the following websites for many examples of graphic organizers and their uses.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr1grorg.htm
http://freeology.com/graphicorgs
http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/graphic/
http://www.eduscapes.com/tap/topic73.htm
http://www2.etown.edu/bap/Resources/conceptmap.pdf

9. Share a Graphic Organizer - one you
use or design a new one.
Post in Discussion Board 3

10. Read about Visuals and
PowerPoint
 Types of Images Handout
 Five Ways to Reduce PowerPoint
Overload Handout

11. Submit a Before and After
PowerPoint Slide in Discussion
Board 4

12. Read Brain-Based Working Memory
Strategies Handout
Brain-based Working Memory Strategies
Strategy: Minimize cognitive overload. Working memory can only hold
7 ± 2 chunks of information.
Tactics Examples
Talk less.  Incorporate key points into handout.
Do less while learners do  Use training methods like peer teaching,
more. guided reading and jigsaw.
Chunk content into  Group information under memorable
memorable pieces – group headings (e.g., advantages and
individual pieces of disadvantages).
information into larger units  Give participants time to practice a step-by-
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of information. step procedure (e.g., washing hands). The
learner groups the steps in a sequence and
mentally rehearses the steps until they
become one or a few chunks. Practicing the
procedure further supports the creation of
“chunks.”
Break the content into  Create a series of workshops.
smaller segments and  Create self-study training modules (print or
distribute over time. on the internet).
Use job aids as memory  Provide a handout listing appropriate hand
supplements. washing steps that participants can post by
the sink.
 Provide a poster with indicators of child
abuse for participants to post in their
classroom.
 Encourage participants to write appropriate
things to say about children’s artwork on an
index card and tape to the art table.
1
Chunking involves the brain’s perception of several items of information as a
single item. For example, the word “development” is composed of 11 letters, but
the brain perceives them as one item of information.

13. Discussion Board 5
 Post your top 3 ideas about
working memory and how you
will use the information.