Repetition ensures that new learning is secured as long-term memories.

Long-term memories are different from Working Memory. They consist of permanent links between brain cells, and they can last a lifetime.

Long-term memories are pathways.

Long-term memories are pathways between brain cells. The signal runs along the brain cell as an electrical impulse, but it then has to cross a gap (called a synapse) between the two cells. It does this using chemicals called neurotransmitters.

Types of memory

There are lots of different theories and ideas about types of memories. You might have heard of some of them:

• Explicit and implicit memories.
• Procedural and declarative memories.
• Episodic and semantic memories.

As far as we can tell, it doesn’t actually help your teaching to know about all of these distinctions.

The key thing to understand is the process of activating prior knowledge, presenting new learning in an effective way, reinforcing the learning with a challenging task, providing and using feedback, and repeating the learning.

This process means that the new learning will become long-term memories.

Long-term potentiation

This is the mechanism by which long-term memories are made. The synapses (gaps between brain cells) for the memory pathway become permanently changed, which means that the signal can flow easily along the path.

We can think about this in terms of gates. The signal arrives at the sending side of the synapse and causes neurotransmitters to be released. These neurotransmitters attach to the receiving side.

There are two types of receptor on the receiving side: one that is like a small gate which opens easily, and one which is like a big gate which can only be opened from the inside. When the pathway is used repeatedly, the big gate is opened and remains permanently open. In other words, a long-term memory is formed.

The videos below give a technical explanation of this process.

Forming long-term memories in the classroom

Neuroscience research shows that long-term memories require repetition, and this is backed up by classroom evidence. We also know from the evidence that there is a certain number of repetitions done with certain timings that will result in effective long-term learning.

When we first hear or see some new material (which makes sense to us), we only retain about 5% of the material. This is why the process of our Six Steps for Outstanding Learning is vital!

After presenting the new learning (Step 2), we should immediately set our students the challenging task (Step 3).

Students need to exercise the pathways for the new learning on at least three occasions, with each repetition happening before the memory fades.

The first repetition should be more than 20 minutes after the challenging task.

Repetitions work best when they are done in the context of spaced practice. We look at this in more detail here.

Image credits

Header image: https://twitter.com/moultoncollege

Image of students at desks: http://sdvoice.info/lack-of-critical-thinking-hurts-high-school-students/

Image of open gate: http://www.mesquitegaragedoor.net/automaticgate.html