Sense-Able Teaching: providing concrete experiences for learners

Did you know that the attention span of adult learners is only 7-20 minutes long?  Perhaps this explains why students look glassy-eyed, doodle, or worse yet, sleep during traditional lecture-based lessons. Although the direct instruction or lecture-based model of teaching is still the most predominant model utilized in higher education, it is by no means the most effective means of stimulating learners or enhancing recall of information. 

So how do we make learning more stimulating and enhance recall and transfer of knowledge? I’m glad you asked! But before we get into teaching strategies, let us first take a simplistic look at how individuals learn.  All learning is based on experience. From a neurological standpoint it has been determined that our brains begin building neural networks even before birth in response to stimuli from our environment which is taken in through the senses.

The importance of rich sensory and hands-on learning experiences cannot be overstated. Even as adults, richer experiences lead to greater complexity in the neural networks that result in the brain. From a cognitive psychology standpoint, information is first perceived, then acted upon with working memory, and finally stored in long-term memory. Information retrieval is thought to be dependent upon the ability to generate a retrieval cue that can access the information stored in the long-term memory. Again, it seems that with richer initial experiences and more complex neural networks, more opportunities for retrieval cues exist.  So basically, Einstein was right when he said, “Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.”

Now, how do we give our students experiences rather than information alone? First, it is extremely important that we provide concrete, hands-on, sensory, experiences that students can use to anchor the abstract, verbal information in long-term memory. Edgar Dale developed the “Cone of Experience” in 1946 to show how a student can progress from concrete real or simulated experiences, to iconic or representational experiences,
and finally to abstract or verbal experiences.
 


There are many ways to provide concrete learning experiences even in the most abstract subject areas. Math manipulatives allow students to “see” numerical relationships. Experiments demonstrate physical, biological, and chemical concepts. Realia, or tangible “show-and-tell” objects can be brought in that relate to a history or humanities lesson.  Simulations, games, case studies, and interviews also provide rich, concrete experiences with abstract information.

Of course, direct instruction or lectures are often necessary in order to impart a large amount of information to students in a short amount of time. When this is the case, consider the following tips:
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