Andrew Stutts
The rigors of the classroom and its activities are challenging to most students in regard to learning. However, the challenges of the classroom environment are compounded and present additional obstacles for students that have poor working memory skills. These difficulties usually manifest in the form of an inability to remain on task. This in turn directly relates to the lack of or timely completion of classroom activities and assignments. The information in this paper concerning this subject is derived from the article Working Memory and Learning Difficulties by Dr. Joni Holmes. The information reviewed examines the often overlooked issues students face dealing with memory difficulties. Also, current methods for minimizing the consequences of poor working memory function from the article will be highlighted.
Working memory is loosely defined as the minds ability to store information for short periods of time and use it in current thinking applications. The following description is provided in the article, “It is a mental workspace of sorts that is used for many activities in daily life, including reading comprehension, mental arithmetic and planning a series of thoughts or actions” (Holmes, 2012). In students, there seems to be a direct correlation based on working memory and the ability to maintain focused behavior in the classroom. Furthermore, this ability plays a vital role in supporting learning. Most people have a limitation to the amount of information that can be held and utilize in the working memory at a given time. This capacity will change during the lifetime of each individual and differs vastly between individuals. Most children’s working memory capacity will develop until reaching the age of 14 to 15 years where it reaches adult levels. However, there are some children for various reasons that make smaller gains in working memory and have a lower capacity than what is typical for their age. According to Dr. Holmes, “This deficiency in working memory is a bi product and is associated with many developmental disorders and learning difficulties, including ADHD, dyslexia, specific language impairment, and reading and mathematical difficulties.” (Holmes, 2012) However, deficiencies in working memory are not always associated with these or other known learning difficulties. This is especially concerning since deficiencies in working memory represent a prominent risk factor for poor educational progress.
The working memory is one of many essential cognitive functions and it is responsible for processing and storing information during complex and demanding activities. Many activities students routinely participate in at school are supported by the working memory process. The article by Dr. Holmes provides a crucial example in the typical classroom activity of reading a passage of text. According to Dr. Holmes, “This would include reading sentences, holding them in mind and integrating the information to uncover the meaning. This example depends heavily on the ability to simultaneously process and store information over the short term.” (Holmes, 2012) Another example by Dr. Holmes, “would be following a set of complex instructions, which is routinely expected in the classroom. This would rely on the ability to remember the different parts putting parts back together and then accomplishing the various steps to complete the action successfully.” (Holmes, 2012)
Luckily thanks to previous teacher observations and reports there are some typical signs to look for concerning students struggling with working memory difficulty. According to Dr. Holmes, “these include poor academic progress, difficulties following multi-step instructions, failing to complete common classroom activities that require large amounts of information to be held in mind, problems keeping their place in demanding and complex activities such as writing, and high levels of inattentive and distractible behavior. “(Holmes, 2012) These signs can aid the educator in assisting those students struggling with working memory.
Given the demands that routine classroom activities place on working memory it should come as no surprise that one of the key characteristics of children with working memory deficits is poor educational attainment. Learning takes place step-by-step relying on successfully completing individual learning activities to accumulate knowledge. Working memory impairments often lead to failure in the classroom due to the activity exceeding these student’s capacity. When this happens students can display inattentive behavior. This due the fact that when working memory fails, they forget what they are doing. This also frequently leads to frustration, lost learning opportunities and a slow rate of educational progress.
The identified negative consequences of working memory difficulties has prompted the demand for targeted interventions over recent years. There are currently two primary approaches to help students that struggle with working memory capacity. One focuses on accelerating learning for children with memory problems by adapting the environment, and the second attempts to target and train working memory function directly.
The environment or classroom-based approach emphasizes teacher awareness of the warning signs of difficulties in working memory mentioned earlier. Teachers are encouraged to adapt their approach to teaching in an effort to reduce memory loads in the classroom. Techniques to achieve this are to break task and instructions down into smaller steps, re-presenting information, and using memory aids. Also, it is extremely important to foster an environment in which children feel comfortable asking what they have forgotten or what they should be doing.
Strategies are also introduced to help children with poor working memory overcome their cognitive weakness. There appear to be a direct correlation to children’s literacy and mathematical skills based on the extent to which the principles of this intervention are implemented. According to Dr. Holmes, “Teachers are typically enthusiastic about the ways in which their understanding and practice has improved as a result of the intervention specifically. Teachers have commented that it is relatively easy to implement within existing curriculum activities. That it enables them to understand that many task failures are the result of forgetting and that children benefit from working within their own working memory limits with greater rates of success when the techniques are applied. “(Holmes, 2012) The long-term benefits are not yet known. However, it is obvious that this approach offers a practical starting point to support children with poor working memory.
Another alternative approach in intervention is to improve working memory function directly through practice on working memory tasks. There are numerous computerized training programs available. All of these training programs require intense training for a continued period on tasks that adapt to match the student’s current capacity limit. The nature of these task differ among programs. Some require practice on an array of working memory tasks and others involve only one type of training task.
There is now substantial evidence to support the assertion that these programs improve working memory problems in childhood. According to Dr. Holmes, “Enhancements in memory have been found in children with poor working memory, ADHD and cochlear implants. “(Holmes, 2012) It further states in Dr. Holmes’s article that, “In a randomized-controlled study, we have shown that improvements in verbal working memory in children with memory impairments are sustained 12 months after training without any additional intervention. These training gains are associated with changes in neural activity in areas of the brain important for working memory function. “(Holmes, 2012)
Currently it is highly debated to what extent these improvements in working memory or other skills are improved. Despite the debate, evidence is mounting concerning the acceleration of learning following training. There have been significant improvements in math scores reported several months after training children with working memory impairments. Additionally, there have been improvements in reading comprehension reported post-training for children with Special Educational Needs. According to the article, “in a field trial just completed, it has been shown that training administered at the class-level by educators lead to robust gains in working memory and educationally significant gains in academic performance. Furthermore, greater progress at school, measured by performance against national targets across the year of the intervention, was found for children with low achievement; in math for children aged 9-11 years and in English for children aged 10/11 only.” (Holmes, 2012)
These findings suggest training may have some benefits for academic outcomes. However, the field of cognitive training is a young field of study, and we still know very little about how gains resulting from these training programs might or to what extent transfer to meaningful improvements in an individual’s daily life. For example, it may be discovered that these gains only apply to the specifics of the training tasks but not to real-world situations. What is known is that all these tool, tips, and strategies provide a starting point for educators to assist student struggling with working memory.
Works Cited
Working Memory and Learning Difficulties; Dr. Joni Holmes; Dyslexia Review Summer 2012; http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Working-memory-and-learning-diffculties.pdf
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