5 Ways to Increase Student Retention and Recall Information

There are many ways to train and teach a student new, exciting topics, but what does it really take for a student to remember something new and recall it a week, a month or a year or more later? And when the whole point of delivering training is so the participants can remember and apply what they’ve learnt in a workplace, sometime later… Retention becomes a key factor in a course and trainer's success.

It’s been said that when hearing about new content, only 10% of the content is remembered. It’s also said that the more engaging and interactive a training session is, the more the information is likely to be learned. So once we engage and wow our students with our presenting finesse and use of an assortment of training aids to do so, how do we encourage and support our students to retain and recall what we have taught them?

If you really want to have raving fans as students and assist them in achieving incredible results in your courses, try the following tips to help them retain and recall what you teach. Your students will come out on top – with understanding and the confidence to demonstrate their abilities.

5 ways to increase students' retention and recall information;

1. Revision activities – throughout the training revisit your content in several different ways. Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them. Use rote learning techniques, which is all about repetition, whenever you can. Repeating information helps develop and strengthen the neural pathways where the information is stored and therefore it can be recalled quicker and for longer periods of time.
   
   Flipcharts are great to use for key concepts – post them around the room and each morning have a 3-5 minute activity where students buddy up and discuss what they know about each flip chart, end the activity with a group share.
   
   Use Kahoots quizzes at the end of each content chunk: this is fun and helps improve learning and memory.
2. Taking Notes (by hand) – Writing notes by hand engages several parts of the brain at once - creativity, spacial awareness, motor skills - something that keyboarding does not achieve. Writing is said to increase retention up to 40% and when notes are organised and read regularly, even more is remembered.
3. Practical application relevant to your students' industry is a solid way to cement in learnings. When new information and practices can be applied in real work situations, the understanding of the new information is more easily accepted and integrated. The process of practical application can also identify any questions or queries in the process or activity, which can then quickly be addressed at the time of doing it (whatever workplace activity it is).
4. Teaching someone else, increases the level of understanding (up to 95%) as learners have to pay more attention in order to articulate what they’ve learnt. This helps consolidate the learning and can help the learner gain deeper insight into new concepts. This could be as easy as reading through notes to someone and answering their questions or simply explaining a concept out loud.
5. Make it musical and fun. People remember fun experiences and learn more when they are smiling, laughing, and enjoying the process. Games are a great way to bring laughter in and classical music played while studying or writing will assist in calming the mind. What actually happens is that the calming effect induced by classical music releases dopamine to spike pleasure. Dopamine also prevents the release of stress hormones. A calm and balanced mood helps clarify thinking and makes tasks like essay writing and studying more enjoyable. And the more your students enjoy something, the more effort and attention they are likely to give to their studies.

Enjoy implementing new practices into your training. If you are interested in becoming a dynamic and engaging trainer and assessor, contact our office on 1300 851 550 or go to our website for more information on TAE40116 full course including in-class delivery session.

See you in a training soon.

Janelle Manton
Senior TAE trainer and assessor