Meaningful Knowledge Essay: Encoding in Memory and Learning

Meaningful knowledge is easily encoded because the intended message is clear. Theoretically, meaningfulness improves the encoding of knowledge by passing information that is already broken down into the desired outcome. For instance, from a classroom perspective, meaningful knowledge can be information that is complete at the time it is passed to students. Encoding becomes difficult if a question is asked because it provokes different thought processes and applications. However, if a statement with a complete answer is relayed to the students, they can easily encode and store the information for future reference. Meaningful knowledge can also be any knowledge that is easily relatable to previous knowledge. Meaningful knowledge is usually easily stored in memory because the recipients have encountered similar or closely related information in the past, making it easy to understand present information (Skinner & Price, 2019). On the other hand, non-meaningful knowledge is not easily memorable because it may be new knowledge that requires repeated encounters to make it stick to memory. 

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           Several techniques can be applied to improve the meaningfulness of information to students. These include encouraging collaboration among students through activities like group projects, asking open-ended questions that make students apply what they have seen in the external environment and relate to the theoretical class concepts, and adopting a student-centered approach that targets students’ needs, among many other techniques (Relojo-Howell, 2017). The idea behind all these techniques is to bring the real outside world into the classroom context and to help students understand that everything they learn is significant and applies to society. Through the mentioned techniques, students can easily infer meaning from what they learn.

           Instructional practices that may be used to improve the meaningfulness of information to students include using student discussion techniques, enhancing self-knowledge through the knowledge ecosystem model, and connecting classroom activities to real experiences in the external environment. The knowledge ecosystem model described entails instructor-initiated activities such as providing extra courses, organizing school events, and integrating social media in learning activities (Relojo-Howell, 2017). Culture influences the practices chosen by preventing the selection of abusive practices in certain cultures. In choosing the teaching practices, extreme care is taken to ensure that the teaching methods are culturally sensitive and respectful of all practices. Culture can also positively influence the methods instructors choose by having a means through which the activities carried out in class can be related to specific cultural practices. The instructor can take advantage of this by adopting a student-centered approach to teaching such that the assignments they provide and revision guidelines are based on what the students can see and relate to their specific cultures. This way, the instructor can use culture to enhance the meaningfulness of information.

References

Bastable, S. B., & Myers, G. M. (2016, September 9). Developmental Stages of the Learner. Nurse Key. https://nursekey.com/developmental-stages-of-the-learner/

McGuire, S. (2022). 15 Technology Tools To Engage Students In The Classroom. TeachThought. https://www.teachthought.com/technology/technology-tools/

Relojo-Howell, D. (2017). 5 Ways to Make Learning More Meaningful to Students — Psych Learning Curve. Psych Learning Curve. http://psychlearningcurve.org/learning-more-meaningful/

Simsek, A. (2012). Learner Control. Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 1(1), 1748–1750. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_372

Skinner, D. J., & Price, J. (2019). The roles of meaningfulness and prior knowledge in younger and older adults’ memory performance. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 33(6), 1103–1112. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3552