Using Memorable Examples
Why are memorable examples valuable in helping students to remember course content?
I teach Hospitality Cost Controls. Having been in the Industry for over 25 years I have had a lot of experiences, both good and bad, in references to making or losing money. With each particular unit I pull memorable examples from my experiences to emphasize to students ways to be really financially successful as well as vivid examples of mistakes people and businesses have made that have cost them dearly and in some cases resulted in the failure of their of their restaurant. The students respond well to these real life examples and often bring them up later in the semester in relation to another unit.
Michael Adessa
Great thinking here. I've found that I can even use some of my own real life examples as case studies for the students. Set up the situation & have them work through what should've been done. Then you can debrief as to how it really played out & this can be powerful.
Ryan
I give my students my own personal examples from working in this field, good and bad, I hope this helps them to remember what to do if they were in certain situations that I have mentioned during class.
This is a great strategy. Walking them through these situations & helping them think through how to handle similar situations is highly beneficial.
Ryan
I enjoy sharing real life stories of things that relate to my subject students like to hear how it really is in real life.
I do agree... I find the students enjoy hearing examples of medical procedures and patient disorders.
Using memorable examples while lecturing gives the students a visual reference when recalling the information taught. This can used by the student during test taking or with clinical application of knowledge.
Absolutely! When I was teaching history in the high school I would do this & I was amazed by the number of times my examples came back to me in essay question responses.
Ryan
I teach military subjects and fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there are many examples throughout history to share with the students. Most students really enjoy the examples and it serves to point out both the good and bad of the decisions made by past leaders.
Memorable examples help the student to relate the information to something tangible. Instead of just hearing the information, they are hearing how the information is applied.
In addition to real life examples I share with the students I like to create examples in the class.
I teach HVAC/R and like to set up labs that will be drive home the concept being covered.
Making lighting circuits work or fail using differnt material as conductors (wires) is an attenction getter.
After the "smoke clears" most students will agree they learn more from thier failures than thier successes.
I use the common examples to explain the complex or seemingly complex pastry methods. Each time i talk about a new technique i try to relate it to other techniques the students may be familiar with in hot food. From the Gastric to the Caramel sauce one would think they are worlds apart. this is not the case. Each sauce begins with sugar cooked to the carmelization point the a liquid is added in the most basic of method of production. The wheels start turning with these and my own life stories.
Memorable examples would be those that the student could relate to and perhaps even visualize. Complex topics can be much easier to understand if one is able to relate them to something they are familiar with. I teach networking in information technology programs. One of the complex topics is IP addressing. By relating the topic to house addresses students are able to envision how addressing works for computer systems. Once a student has a grasp on the concept and they can relate it to something that they are very familiar with, then they will remember and recall.
I imagine the visuals of lighting circuits really help to make the point. If one is able to develop a way to actually show students the concept then that would really help them to remember!
Erica,
A great reminder for us as we're telling our stories/experiences to be emphasizing how the information applies in this situation.
Ryan
Timothy,
These are great ideas and ways of bringing real life to the safety of the classroom.
Ryan
It helps them to store the information and makes it easier to recall.
Using memorable examples are good ways of communicating to students. For example, I like to share past experiences and or memories of scenarios that could be useful to the students during my lectures.
It gives them something to relate it to. Like a story from experiance with the content of the course in it.
