Have you ever pondered why some lessons linger with students and others go away as soon as the class ends? The key is in 'sticky teaching.' This effective teaching philosophy is intended to make learning memorable. Intrigued? Let's get started and figure out how to make learning stick!
What is Sticky Teaching?
Sticky teaching is a teaching concept that focuses on making teachings memorable. It acknowledges that not all teaching is learning. As a result, it seeks to increase the stickiness of lectures, causing them to linger in students' minds for longer periods of time. The ultimate goal is to shift away from rote learning and towards comprehension and application.
Sticky Teaching Implementation
Here's a more in-depth look at how sticky teaching can be implemented in your classroom:
Make It Relatable: When students recognise a link between what they learn in class and their daily life, they are more likely to remember it. For example, you could tie angles and shapes to objects in the classroom or their homes while teaching geometry.
Engage Emotions: Our brains are hardwired to remember emotional situations. You can make your lessons more remembered by incorporating elements of surprise, humour, or empathy. For example, providing a fascinating tale that evokes emotions in students might make a history lesson memorable.
Promote Active Learning: Active learning includes students directly in the learning process, which makes it more effective and interesting. Group discussions, hands-on experiments, case studies, and problem-solving exercises could all be used to accomplish this. In a biology lecture, for example, dissecting a flower will be more memorable than simply reading about its parts.
Use Visual Aids: Our brains process and recall pictures faster than text. Diagrams, infographics, and videos can help to reinforce your teaching and make complicated concepts more understandable. A colourful infographic illustrating the water cycle, for example, is more likely to stick than a text-based explanation.
The Benefits of Sticky Teaching
Sticky teaching has various advantages that make it an effective teaching strategy:
Improved Retention: Because sticky teaching employs tactics that correspond to how our brains function, it improves students' capacity to retain material. This enhances not only their academic achievement but also their long-term grasp of the subject.
Engaged Learning: Engaging teaching practises are intended to pique students' curiosity and attention. This can result in a more positive attitude towards learning and higher class involvement.
Enhanced Understanding: Sticky teaching improves students' understanding of subjects by making lectures more accessible and practical. This is especially useful in disciplines where pupils frequently fail to understand abstract concepts.
Sticky teaching tactics frequently entail active learning, which aids in the development of important 21st-century skills. Critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and cooperation skills are among them.
Sticky teaching, in essence, adopts a student-centered approach to learning, making it more relevant, engaging, and remembered. It is not a matter of teaching more; rather, it is a matter of making what we teach stick!
Comments