PQ4R

It is a teaching strategy used for reading process that includes skills like previewing, questioning,

reading, reflecting, reciting and review to increase reading comprehension.

Advantages:

Easy to use and can be applied to readings in most academic.

It encourages student to actively interact with the material given provided by the PQ4R

techniques.

To help students break the big chapter into small chunk information so that it is easy to

assimilate.

To improve reading comprehension.

Limitation:

It needs the student’s ability to skim and scan the texts which involves rapid reading of

the text on part introduction, body and conclusion as well as careful searching for the key

points or facts of the text.

This method can be not suitable for the young students as it may be difficult for them.

Acronym

It is a method to remember items by forming a word that is made out of the first letters. Example

the colour of a rainbow is ROY G BIV stands for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and

Violet.

Advantages:

It serves as an aid to help people remember meaningful things.

Chunking information – to remember long words.

It helps us to retrieve original information.

Limitation:

It only helps us to memorize but not understanding.

Once we forgot one or two letters of acronyms, then the original information would be

changed.

Acronym is easily being forgotten if it is not committed to memory.

KWL-Plus

KWL stands for “What I Know”, “What I Want to know”, “What I Learned”, whereas the Plus

is summarizing after reading.

It is a method of reading strategy to help students learn through before, during and after process

of reading. This method promotes metacognition that connects the student’s prior knowledge

about a topic by having brainstorming, questioning, examining answers to those questions and

summarizing what is read.

Advantages:

To promote comprehension in reading.

The information from brainstorming sparks more questions for exploration and inquiry.

To develop a learning community where students are given time and opportunity to

reflect through discussions.

To assess the student’s level of knowledge about a topic.

Limitation:

It may take times to use this method in terms of finding sources of information for the

unanswered questions.

Method of Loci

It is the method of using visual imagery and the location for the items to be recalled by involving

the cognitive mapping.

Advantages:

This method can be combined with the key-word method in forming the images.

Associating information with location can aid memory.

It gives people a systematic way of searching memory to recall the items.

It helps us to remember a related message.

Limitation:

The sequence of places has to be remembered in the right order.

To form a memory of loci, it has to be in deserted and solitary place, because the crowds

of passing people tend to weaken the impressions of the location.

It should be different among one another, in other word one imaged object and its

corresponding loci at any one time to avoid confusing.

Peg-word Method

It is a method by previously memorized set of words that are selected to correspond with

numbers and dependable on rhymes. Example one is a bun, two is shoe, three is tree and so on.

Advantages:

Easy to remember since this method is rhymed.

It allows recall in any order without problems in losing one’s place.

To help students remember historical facts.

Limitation:

Although this method works efficiently, it still needs enough time to perform the initial

encoding that sounds rhymed with the numbers.

If the list of the words to be memorised is more than 10, then it should need a time to

memorize a longer reference list.

Chain Mnemonics

It is a method by visualizing the image of each item to be learned and associate the image in a

serial order, hence forming a chain of associations. Example, to associate ‘doctor’ and ‘rose’;

one might picture a doctor giving roses to a patient.

Advantages:

To remember a series of item in order.

It can be used with verbal facilitator to help a person who cannot use visual imagery.

It helps people learn the lists faster and make fewer errors in recall.

Associating items together using visual imagery in condition that it is vivid and active

aids memory.

Limitation:

All the chain is dependency, forgetting one of the item might affects memory where it is

difficult to recall the rest of the list of the item.

It doesn’t aid so much in learning tasks that involve reasoning and understanding.

Keyword Method

It is a method to represent information by associating new information with a visual image of

one or more objects that had a similar sound, or symbols that are already learned or encoded in

memory.

Advantages:

It is an aid method to learn new information.

Can acquire information faster.

Limitation:

It needs a little help in recalling the new fact although it is effective when associating the

new fact with the learned fact of information.

Why is it essential for teachers to teach learning strategies and mnemonics to students?

Mnemonics is a strategy of learning device to help the learners remember better by providing a

visual imagery or verbal sound.

It is important for the students who may have difficulty in retaining information also the one who

have cognitive disabilities. They can attach the mnemonics to an idea they already have where it

can build their knowledge by applying any methods of mnemonics. Applying the mnemonics to

their learning too helps them to prevent confusion on the concepts of their lessons.

Mnemonics also allow students to participate in learning communities where they can be

collaborative through discussion. Overall, it lets student to learn independently.

References

Ashcraft M.H. (1994). Human Memory and Cognition. 2nd Edition. UK: Harper Collins College

Publishers.

Baddely A.D. (1976). The Psychology of Memory. USA: Basic Books, Inc. Publishers.

Gunning T.G. (2000). Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties. USA: Allyn

and Bacon

Higbee. K.L. (1977). Your Memory. USA: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Norman D.A. (1969). Memory and Attention. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Tierney R. J., Readence J.E., Dishner E.K. (1990). Reading Strategies and Practices. 3rd Edition.

USA: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Access Center : Improving Outcomes for All Students K-8. Using Mnemonic Instruction to Facilitate Access to the General Education Curriculum. Retrieved on 12th October 2011, from http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/Mnemonics.asp