McKay School of Education > News > IP&T PhD Student Receives “Most Interactive Display” Award
IP&T PhD Student Receives “Most Interactive Display” Award at BYU Internship Fair
Many individuals have attended a 3-hour lecture only to scarcely recall the topic a week later. Statistics, history, and calculus are just a few subject areas in which individuals complete coursework, yet one to two years later struggle explaining even basic definitions from the class. How can you make sure you are learning for optimal recall and life integration? According to top learning theories, the key to mastering memory is making strong connections on various levels. Anne Makin states that this method is crucial to effective and prolonged learning.
Makin, a doctoral student in the McKay School of Education Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology, recently won the “Most Interactive Display” award at the BYU Internship Showcase. She energetically demonstrated her subject matter through her presentation.
The background for Makin’s display (see photograph) consisted of a display containing information on the main learning theories—behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism—which she had taught in an undergraduate course during her internship. Makin labeled her own derived learning theory Makinism, meaning that as we make more physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual connections, we increase our ability to gain and retain information. She provided interactive objects and activities to encourage connections for observers.
“Learning is all about connections,” Makin explained. To supply connections for observers at the Showcase, she made a model of the human brain, using wire, netting, foam balls, and big eyes. She represented information that we encounter daily with small plastic jumping frogs. She invited observers to jump the frogs toward the brain model, and gave possible interpretations for the results as the frogs impacted the netting: Sometimes they missed completely—we weren’t paying attention, and therefore we made no connections and cannot recall the information; sometimes the frogs hit and bounced off—we may have heard, but we didn’t make many connections; other-times the frog may have stuck temporarily and then fell out of the netting—we crash studied and completed the test, but couldn't recall anything a week after; and sometimes the frogs stuck firmly to the netting—we made a lot of connections with the material and will be able to readily access the information when needed.
Makin strongly advocates the use of teaching approaches that make strong connections on multiple levels. “Activities are full of connections,” she pointed out. “If you make sure the activity directly correlates with the curriculum objectives well enough for students to immediately identify, the wealth of connections on various levels in activities will allow for effective and prolonged learning.” She described how those principles apply to college undergraduates as well as to elementary school students.
8 June 2009