@TeacherToolkit
Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2010, and today, he is one of the ‘most followed educators’on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the ‘500 Most Influential People in Britain’ by The Sunday Times as a result of…
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Are teachers neglecting critical thinking for the sake of developing memory skills?
This emerging research explores the relationship between critical thinking and memory retention in students, questioning if our current pedagogy is out of balance …
Students generally excel in memory retention but lag behind with critical thinking skills.
These two cognitive skills are proven to be pivotal in academic performance, as supported by multiple studies such as those conducted by D’Allesio et al. (2019) and Hassevoort et al. (2018).
A new research journal, Critical Thinking, Retention Memory Skills, and Academic Performance (Bayan et al., 2023) suggests that teachers can intervene.
From instructional design to teaching explicit student skills, teachers that design frequent, in-class assessments and learning activities that challenge critical thinking – while leveraging memory skills – can make significant leaps!
Ignoring critical thinking can hinder students from becoming well-rounded learners, limiting their ability to adapt and solve complex problems.
On the flip side, solely focusing on memory retention might lead to rote learning, missing out on the development of self-regulation needed in today’s classrooms.
It’s not just about knowing, but how to apply and use the information. Think of assessments where students must (not only) recall facts, but synthesise them in complex (and unfamiliar) situations.
Reflection questions for teachers to consider:
- How do your current assessment strategies measure both memory and critical thinking?
- Are you providing enough opportunities for students to analyse and solve problems?
- Could a re-focus on critical thinking lift academic performance across the board?
- What learning resources can you utilise to foster both skills?
- How could your curriculum be adapted for a balanced cognitive skillset?
- Can cross-curricular activities help in this integration?
- What role do extracurricular activities play?
- How can parents be engaged to support this dual focus?
- How do student demographics influence this dynamic?
- Are you, as teacher, sufficiently equipped to foster these cognitive skills? If not, get in touch.
The classroom environment, psychological, and intellectual traits of students have a direct impact on students’ higher order thinking abilities, and we know that ‘what prior knowledge our students already know’ helps students more with their working memory.
If the level of critical thinking skills of the students improves, their academic performance will also be improved (D’Allesio, et.al, 2019).
