A group of students, facilitated by a teacher, determine what knowledge is needed to understand and manage a clinical scenario that typifies an actual clinical case. The group works together to construct the necessary knowledge base. The student-centered approach takes advantage of the fact that new knowledge is acquired by extending and revising prior knowledge, that new ideas acquire meaning when they are presented in relationship to one another, and that knowledge becomes usable when it is acquired in situations where it can be applied to concrete problem solving. This approach also teaches the skills necessary for students to become life-long learners. Learning refers to a process that mediates a change in behavior as a result of experience.
Memory is the end point of the process and refers to the actual storage of the information.
Memory involves various stages. The number of stages and the underlying mechanisms of each are areas of debate. Short term memory is that which is affected by head trauma that results in retrograde amnesia. Memory for recent events, or the events surrounding the trauma, is lost, but memory of older events remains unchanged. Short term memory banks have a limited capacity and the information stored in the banks is very labile.