Keyword Mnemonics: Effects of Immediate Recall on Delayed Recall

One of the limitations of keyword mnemonics concerns its efficacy in delayed recall. The objective of this study was to analyse the impact of keyword mnemonics on delayed recall (at a one-week interval). A sample of 794 first and second-year Compulsory Secondary Education students of both genders were presented a list of 14 Basque words, the meanings of these words were to be learnt using keyword mnemonics (keyword selected by classmates, researchers, or by the participants themselves), or the rote learning method. Half of the sample were allowed immediate and delayed recall, and the remaining 50% of participants underwent delayed recall. Activation of immediate recall influenced delayed recall. The rote learning method was more effective than the keyword method when the keyword was supplied by the researcher, or when participants generated their own keywords themselves, but not as effective as the keyword method when the keyword was generated by the classmates of the participants in the study.

Innovating With the Times: Pathology Education in Context of Physician Burnout

Introduction/Objective Learning a boundless volume of information, preparing for multiple exams, and getting involved in several other academic activities are just a few things that the current medical students need to tackle in a finite duration. While these challenges encourage learners to be their best, and prepare them for their careers as future physicians, they can also result in a largely unnoticed issue — burnout. Curricular reform targeted at developing skills to mitigate burnout is the need of the hour. To combat this issue in the pathology classroom, we used our tried and tested strategy of algorithms in combination with fun activities, particularly keyword mnemonics, to evaluate the impact on reducing burnout in medical students. Methods Lectures were delivered and recorded for students of semester 4 and 5, and sample algorithms and mnemonics were included. We also used pathophysiology case sessions comprising clinical vignettes and questions. Students were divided into small groups to solve questions and had to frame their own algorithms and mnemonics to help them. The method’s effectiveness was assessed using performance in past and current exams. Feedback was performed to gauge students’ perceptions Results Feedback evaluation showed that 86% of students indicated that algorithms and mnemonics not only strengthened the rote memory but also helped lessen the stress during exam preparation. 59% of students expressed that teamwork made it easier and fun to work. Almost 11% felt that mnemonics should be included as part of new lectures but they found it difficult and ineffective to make their own. Further assessment will be performed to analyze the strategy’s impact on burnout. Conclusion Classroom traditions that encourage shared problem-solving and decision-making leads to reduced burnout rates among medical students, with the added benefit of enhanced retention of complicated material and improved clinical correlation capabilities. The relationship between stress and memory is well-documented, and feedback revealed that this technique helped alleviate negative stress on the students. Our project underlines the essence of research studies to minimize burnout in medical students, for design and development of future interventions to prevent burnout at the outset in the training of future physicians.

La mnemotecnia de la palabra clave aplicada a vocabulario gallego de baja frecuencia en estudiantes bilingües || The keyword mnemonics applied to low-frequency Galician vocabulary in bilingual students

La mnemotecnia de la palabra clave es una regla mnemotécnica que se utiliza, fundamentalmente, en el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras. En este estudio se intentaba averiguar si la mnemotecnia de la palabra clave influía en el aprendizaje del significado de las palabras de la lengua gallega de baja frecuencia, y si la habilidad de imagen de los participantes influía en el aprendizaje. Para ello, se seleccionó un grupo de 111 estudiantes de Educación Secundaria que aprendieron una lista de 20 palabras del idioma gallego, de baja frecuencia, mediante el método de repetición o mediante el método de la palabra clave. Se encontró que la mnemotecnia de la palabra clave era más efectiva que el método de repetición en el aprendizaje y que los participantes con alta viveza de imagen recordaban un mayor número de traducciones de las palabras de la lengua gallega que los que tenían baja viveza de imagen. Son necesarias nuevas investigaciones sobre la mnemotecnia de la palabra clave aplicada a las lenguas minoritarias como la lengua gallega.

The Effect of Mnemonic Vocabulary Instruction on Reading Comprehension of Students

The present article was an investigation of mnemonic vocabulary teaching to improve reading comprehension in the EFL classrooms. A major problem with the most of the past researches was that they paid no or little attention to the effects of using mnemonic strategies to improve reading comprehension. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how key word mnemonic vocabulary teaching can improve reading comprehension of the students. To this end, 360 third grade senior high school students from 6 senior high schools of Zanjan were selected through multistage cluster random sampling method and based on Cambridge placement test (2010), 345 students proved to be upper intermediate. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the effects of a mnemonic vocabulary intervention on reading comprehension. In this article there were one control group (A, n=115), and two experimental groups (B, n=115; C, n=115) all of which were male and there were selected randomly by the researchers. During one month in four weeks, every week in two thirty-minute session, group B received direct vocabulary instruction and group C received key word mnemonic instruction. The quantitative component of this article was comprised of the Unit Cloze test. In order to test the effects of Mnemonic Vocabulary Teaching on reading comprehension, the covariance analysis was employed and the results demonstrated that by eliminating the covariance factor of the pre-test, mnemonic vocabulary instruction improved the reading comprehension of the students. The use of keyword mnemonics as a means to differentiate instruction is an educational implication that can assist teachers seeking better student achievement outcomes.

The Effects of Mnemonic Vocabulary Instruction on Content Vocabulary Learning of Students

The present article is an investigation about the effects of mnemonic vocabulary teaching to improve content vocabulary learning in EFL classrooms. A major issue with the most of the past studies was that they paid little or no attention to the effects of using mnemonic strategies to improve content vocabulary learning. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how key word mnemonic vocabulary teaching can improve the comprehension and learning of the content vocabulary for the students. To this end, 256 third year senior high school students from 6 senior high schools in Zanjan (Iran) were selected through a multistage cluster random sampling method and based on the Cambridge placement test (2010), 230 students proved to be upper intermediate. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the effects of a mnemonic vocabulary intervention on content vocabulary learning. In this article there were one control group (A, n=115), and one experimental group (C, n=115) all of which were male and there were selected randomly. This study was done in May 2017, and over four weeks, in two thirty-minute sessions per week, group C received key word mnemonic instruction. In order to test the effects of mnemonic vocabulary teaching on content vocabulary learning, the covariance analysis was employed and the results demonstrated that by eliminating the covariance factor of the pre-test, mnemonic vocabulary instruction improved content vocabulary learning for students. The use of keyword mnemonics as a means to differentiate instruction is an educational result that can assist teachers.

Among-Subject Concordance in Keyword Generation and its Effect on Recall: A Preliminary Study

A major unresolved question in keyword mnemonics is whether the technique is more effective when the keyword is supplied by the researcher, or when it is generated by the participants. We have recently described a hybrid approach: keywords are selected by the researcher from among those generated by persons of similar sociodemographic characteristics to those of the persons with which the technique is to be used. In the present study we investigated whether recall is affected by the degree of among-persons concordance at the keyword generation stage. The 109 participants (12- to 15-year-olds) received a list of 10 Latin words, each with keyword (previously generated by persons of similar sociodemographic characteristics), translation to Spanish. For five of the 10 Latin words, there had been high among-subject concordance at the keyword generation stage, whereas for the remaining five concordance had been low. Our results indicate that both immediate and one-week recall were significantly better for words for which there had been high concordance in keyword selection. These results indicate ways in which the keyword method can be used more effectively to aid word learning.

The Importance of the Keyword-Generation Method in Keyword Mnemonics

Keyword mnemonics is under certain conditions an effective approach for learning foreign-language vocabulary. It appears to be effective for words with high image vividness but not for words with low image vividness. In this study, two experiments were performed to assess the efficacy of a new keyword-generation procedure (peer generation). In Experiment 1, a sample of 363 high-school students was randomly divided into four groups. The subjects were required to learn L1 equivalents of a list of 16 Latin words (8 with high image vividness, 8 with low image vividness), using a) the rote method, or the keyword method with b) keywords and images generated and supplied by the experimenter, c) keywords and images generated by themselves, or d) keywords and images previously generated by peers (i.e., subjects with similar sociodemographic characteristics). Recall was tested immediately and one week later. For high-vividness words, recall was significantly better in the keyword groups than the rote method group. For low-vividness words, learning method had no significant effect. Experiment 2 was basically identical, except that the word lists comprised 32 words (16 high-vividness, 16 low-vividness). In this experiment, the peer-generated-keyword group showed significantly better recall of high-vividness words than the rote method groups and the subject generated keyword group; again, however, learning method had no significant effect on recall of low-vividness words.

Using Peg- and Keyword Mnemonics and Computer-Assisted Instruction to Enhance Basic Multiplication Performance in Elementary Students with Learning and Cognitive Disabilities

This paper describes the effectiveness of Memory Math, a multimedia software program developed to teach students with learning and cognitive disabilities to effectively use a peg- and keyword mnemonic strategy to learn basic multiplication facts. According to the math Standards (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000), accuracy with basic facts is a critical element in the development of new skills and achievement in higher levels of math. One avenue for improving accuracy on basic skills is computer-assisted instruction (CAI). CAI offers an alternative to the teacher-intensive coaching often required to facilitate self-directed performance on basic skills. This paper demonstrates that CAI provides an effective mechanism for teaching students a mnemonic memory strategy to increase their independent performance and accuracy on tasks of basic multiplication.