The following is from the book Myths: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo. How well do you know fact from fiction?
FICTION: The strawberry is a fruit.
FACT: Actually, the red part of what we commonly call the strawberry isn’t the fruit. It’s actually a modified part of the stem. The fruit is the little yellow thing sticking to the side.
FICTION: The more information the student is given, the more learning will take place.
FACT: When it comes to effective teaching, “less is more.” The human mind can only process one piece of new information at a time. The maximum number of “bits of information” the mind can process at any given time is eight (like in the “eight bits” of a computer chip). In order to process large amounts of information the brain engages in “chunking.†And when trying to process complex information the brain attempts to “link†through association (the basic learning principle here is going from the known to the unkown, or connecting the “new†with the “oldâ€).
When it comes to teaching, we do well to focus in on teaching one (1) new concept at each learning session (that’s one new concept per class session!). If your lesson requires two or three new pieces of information (data, concepts, principles) then you need to make sure that they are all related: dependent, associated, supportive, derivative, illustrative, or explanatory. If any of the concepts you are trying to teach is not connected in any of those ways it’s unlikely that it will be “learned†or retained.
How much information are you trying to pass on to your students in one sitting? How effective are you in focusing in on the single most important thing you want your students to learn during a single class period?
You can order a copy of the book Myth: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning (ISBN 0-9715765-4-8) by Israel Galindo directly from Educational Consultants.
