Throughout our lives, we all go through schooling. Whether it is for 13 years, or more, we are all placed in a learning environment in which we learn new concepts every year. Most of these concepts, however, we forget over time.
Julie Hewitt, a Math teacher at Horizon High School, states that people need a lot of refreshers when it comes to math. Specifically, Hewitt explains that refreshers are put into lesson plans about 90% of the time. When asked if she tries different teaching techniques yearly, Hewitt responds, “When we collaborate as a teacher group, we figure out, like, ‘Oh, this is what made my kids remember’ or ‘This is how I said it to my kids so they remembered.’ This process helps teachers narrow down which techniques to teach because once they find one that works, they tend to stick with it.
Hewitt goes on to explain that the way students memorize knowledge is based more on how they relate it to what they already know than to specific techniques. She says, “Because I could tell them how I want [them] to memorize it, or how I memorize it, but it doesn’t help them if they don’t understand the connection that I made with it.”
When asked how much of each core subject she remembers at the beginning of the school year, Horizon High School junior Faith Carter responds, “I remember some, but, like, not much of each core class. But, a subject like math, where it’s steps and formulas, I definitely feel like I remember more than I would compared to, like, English.”
Carter, when asked if taking notes helps her remember what she’s learned, replies, “I only really take notes in my AP Environmental Sciences class and math. Taking them and going back and looking at these notes is super helpful, at least for me, to, like, help remind me what I’ve learned.” When asked which subject she remembers most, Carter replies that history is the most memorable subject for her. She says that she is very interested by a lot of historical facts, and that that interest plays a key part in her enjoyment and remembering of history.
Amelia Hansen, a sophomore at Horizon High School, says that she sometimes studies before tests. Hansen says that studying before tests helps her remember around 75% of what she’s learned.
Similarly, Horizon High School senior Rylee Pietsch says that before tests she goes over her notes and watches YouTube videos about the topic she is learning. When asked about her notes, Pietsch says, “I love taking notes in class and using different colors, markers, highlighters, and such to make remembering easier.”
Both Hansen and Pietsch prefer hands-on activities when learning and reviewing topics. Pietsch states, “I am a hands-on learner, so, like, sometimes reviews don’t make sense to me and other times they help a lot.”
Furthermore, Hansen and Pietsch agree that English is the easiest subject to remember. Hansen believes this because it is repetitive throughout the years and consists mostly of a few major topics. Pietsch says, “…it’s my favorite subject and I think I probably paid more attention in that class than other classes.”
It seems like teachers and students alike have a unanimous idea that over time, students tend to forget what they have previously learned. Whether it’s in English, math, or history, students only remember parts of topics they’ve already covered. This is why school can be repetitive, because teachers have to put refreshers of things kids have already learned into lesson plans, in order for students to be able to remember concepts fully.
