The Chinese Adage:

The Chinese Adage:

I hear and I forgot,

I see and I remember,

I do and I understand.

This Chinese adage:  “I hear and I forgot, I see and I remember, I do and I understand can be intertwined to the active participation of learners in class activities for maximum learning. 

It is presumed that when a teacher does not use a variety of presentation styles in their lessons will find that their students don’t have the benefit of increased learning.  Cognitive psychology tells us that no matter the information-processing model studied, attention is the key for long-tem retention of information.  So just by talking or giving theoretical aspect on the subject matter will undoubtedly deprive the students to forget what is being taught without the use of any instructional materials like books, visual aids, graphics, etc.   That’s why even though you hear the teacher explains fully the subject matter but without teaching aids being use, the lesson will be totally forgotten afterwards ---“I hear and I forgot”.

Another way to increase student attention is to provide students with a way to organize the information that is presented during a lesson. Educational psychology research has shown that students store information more effectively and remember more completely if it is organized. Helping a student store information in a meaningful way in long-term memory is not just limited to how we organize the information. Cognitive learning theory tells us that students have a better chance of learning information in a meaningful manner if it is presented in a context or real world situation. These contextual situations give the student background and experiences that they can connect with the information they are learning--- “I see and I remember “.

The idea of placing learning in a context has other cognitive benefits. Research has shown that students acquire information more easily and have an easier time recalling it when the information is relevant to their prior knowledge. On the other hand, if a student has little prior knowledge about a subject then they have a very difficult time storing and retrieving the new information that has been learned.

While prior knowledge has many positive benefits for leaning it can also lead to misconceptions. Learning theory has shown that people will interpret any new information in relation to previous learning. This also means that any misinformation that they have stored will affect the way new information is processed. To avoid this situation teachers can monitor their students learning by asking questions and having the students explain their answers. This strategy allows teachers to identify misconceptions and correct them before they have a chance to take root. As teachers we have all know that there are areas in our subject that students have misconceptions about.

Another way to help students understand information more meaningfully is to teach the principles behind the information we are giving them. Cognitive learning theory has demonstrated that students have an easier time transferring learning and solving problems when information has been learned in a meaningful fashion. It has also demonstrated that principles are more easily transferred then specific information or facts.

Meaningful learning can also be accomplished through the use of challenges. Meaningful leaning is not the only benefit, however, of presenting students with challenging problems. These problems can also reduce boredom in the classroom. Research has shown that challenging problems improve interest, cause students to attribute success to internal factors, and promotes a sense of competence and self-efficacy about the material being learned. We can see all of these things happening when we watch a child trying to solve a difficult problem like riding a bike for the first time. No matter how hard it is for them to learn they will not stop trying until they have mastered it. Once the child has mastered the ability they seem to glow with a sense of pride and the feeling of accomplishment. For the next few months it is impossible to get the child off the bike and as the old saying goes they will never forget --- “I do and I understand”.

It can be summarized on the following important points:

I hear and I forgot

·             Just by talking or narrating a certain subject would not be an effective learning activity for the students.  

·             Without instructional materials, students will not improve students’ storage and retrieval of the information.

I see and I remember

·             Using a variety of presentation styles helps students keep their attention on the lesson.

·             Presenting a lesson using organizers (graphic, tables, etc…) improves the students’ storage and retrieval of the information.

·             Presenting material in a real world context helps students to learn the information in a more meaningful way.

I do and I understand

·             Connecting the lesson to the students’ prior knowledge allows them to store it in their long-term memory.

·             Asking questions and monitoring student responses allows the teacher to eliminate misconceptions.

·             Teaching the principles of why things work promotes the students’ ability to transfer what has been learned into a new situation.

·             Presenting challenging problems in a math class heightens student interest in the material and reduces the boredom often associated with math.

·             Focusing on intrinsic motivations for learning improves students’ classroom behaviors and learning practices.