Organization Strategy

The way students organize target information before they encode it in their long-term memories is an important determiner of their ability to retrieve it later from their long-term memories [1]. Organizing target information before encoding it is especially important when the target information is (a) is verbal, (b) is complex, and (c) is presented along with a lot of other verbal information that is not target information, such as in the typical textbook and lecture. Organizing connections between and among many separate items of target information before encoding them in long-term memory facilitates the later retrieval of that information because of the many connections created to each item of target information [2]. And it facilitates retrieval because of the many items of target information that can be accessed from other items of target information [3].

SUMMARY GUIDELINES FOR USING AN ORGANIZATION STRATEGY

STEP ONE: ORGANIZE TARGET INFORMATION

Tell of show students the target information and organizer and help them tell or show it back. Provide guidance.

ORGANIZATION TASK

Help students identify the target information and then organize it around one of two kinds of organizers. Practice encoding the organized target information.

1. OUTLINE

Use an organizer that shows in an outline format the hierarchical relationship of the different items in the target information.

2. MATRIX

Use an organizer that shows in a network diagram the relationship of the different items in the target information.

ORGANIZATION GUIDANCE

While students are performing the organization task, focus their attention on the organized items of target information. Provide confirming and corrective feedback.

STEP TWO: PRACTICE RETRIEVING TARGET INFORMATION

Have all students retrieve the target information from long-term memory without the organizer. Provide guidance.

RECALL-PRACTICE TASK

Use activities that require all students to retrieve the target information by itself, without the organizer.

RECALL-PRACTICE GUIDANCE

During and after all students perform the recall-practice task; confirm their adequate retrieval of the target information, and correct their inadequate retrieval. Vary the explicitness of guidance. When they are unable to retrieve the target information from memory, provide more explicit guidance that is intended to help them remember the organized target information, and then use it to cue retrieval of the target information.

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1. (For example). Mandler, G. (1967). Organization and memory. In K.W. Spence & J.T. Spence (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 1, pp. 328-372) New York: Academic Press.

2. (For example). Anderson, R.C., Spiro, R., & Anderson, M.C. (1978). Schemata as scaffolding for the representation of information in connected discourse. American Educational Research Journal, 15, 433-440.

3. (For example). Goetz, E.T., & Armbruster, B.B. (1980). Psychological correlates of text structure. In R.J., B.C. Bruce, & W.F. Brewer (Eds.), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension (pp. 201-220). Hillsdale: NJ: Erlbaum.