For teachers today, it is necessary to teach and more importantly to be able to keep the children interested. The age old ‘chalk and talk’ method is today shown to achieve less effective results as compared to newer more revolutionary methods now available.
Focussing on enjoyment, greater student interaction and stretching the boundaries of authority over only ‘grades’ has proven to be more effective. Three of these teaching methods are now making the greatest impact and in this series of three Edu Scoops articles, let’s understand the first method.
Spaced Learning
Spaced learning is a teaching method in which the summarised learning content is repeated thrice with two 10-20 minute breaks. During these breaks the students perform various, related physical activities. This method is also advantageous as it encourages students to quickly switch activities.
An example of this would be providing 10 minutes of knowledge on the nervous system through a PowerPoint presentation then having a rigorous 10-15 minute kabaddi or kho kho game. The creators and users of this method claim that this is definitely more effective than simply teaching about the nervous system for hours and hours.
Get the best collection of books at the Flipkart Book Store
After the kabaddi game which allows students to relax, they are encouraged to create connections between the nervous system and the game. This method not only has the benefit of enabling students to remember the knowledge but remembering in a stress-free, spaced out manner.
Spaced learning is therefore a big advantage in today’s crammed jammed syllabus and the stressful student life. The only snag in this wonderful fool proof method is that teachers and educators have to plan ahead and divide the syllabus into smaller related sections. Combining lessons with the physical education class would be a time saver for the teacher.
