Information processing theory: How does our memory work?

By Cynthia Grimm
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
February, 2011

Information Processing theory is something I will most definitely need to remember once I become a teacher. So often, you’re excited about a lesson you want to teach and all the great information you want to get across, but it is important to remember how much of that your students can process. I see that a lot in the Kindergarten classroom and many of the teachers complain about it as well, that now because of regulated assessment tests, there’s so much information they need to get through; yet they can tell that most of the students have no idea what the lesson is about. The teachers hate having to literally rush through one lesson to make sure they have enough time for the next, only to have the kids stare back blankly.

I think what I want to remember most is the 5-7 bits of information at a time. Sometimes for lesson plans I will make handout sheets and try to fit as much information about an artist or the time period as I can. Realizing how difficult it would be for my students to absorb all of that, I think I will limit these handouts to no more than 5 crucial facts and maybe include an image to help them with recall. Just because I am excited about an artist doesn’t mean the entire class will be. If I can break it down to just at least a cursory knowledge of that artist, then maybe the students who want to learn more will seek out other works in museums or books and at least the students who don’t want to learn any more will have a basic knowledge that will hopefully transfer to their long-term memory.