Even in the constructivist classroom, some facts must be learned.
Memory devices are especially helpful for students with learning disabilities.
While there has been a shift in science teaching away from memorizing facts to constructing concepts, students still need to organize their learning, commit knowledge and skills to memory, and recall prior knowledge and data. We have found that memory devices are particularly helpful in meeting the needs of these students. We would like to share four techniques for recalling and organizing information that we have used to enhance and facilitate memory for our students with learning disabilities. All four were used in the study of habitats. Each strategy actively involves the students in the learning process, helps them make connections to prior knowledge, and facilitates retrieval.