Primacy-Recency Effect

We already knew that when we need to memorize a list, our brain works in a way that will have us remember the words at the top of the list the best, and then the ones at the end of the list.  We generally have more trouble with the words in the middle of the list.

It just so happens that this pattern also takes place when we are learning.  During a learning episode, we remember best that which comes first, second best that which comes last, and least that which comes just past the middle.

What implications does this have for our teaching?

Clearly, we need to take advantage of our Prime Time 1 to introduce important material, and use our Prime Time 2 for closure.  The down time should be used to practice or review.

DO NOT WASTE THE FIRST 20 MINUTES OF CLASS with attendance, distributing homework, and other minutiae.  Some teachers use the first few minutes of class to ask students what they know about the subject.  Unfortunately, some students will provide wrong information at that time, and because the rest of the students will be hearing this information during Prime Time 1, unfortunately, many of them will retain the mistaken information.  When the precious first few minutes of class are wasted on logistics, by the time the teacher gets to the new information or material, students are in their 'down time,' in the valley of Retention..

DO NOT WASTE THE LAST 5 MINUTES OF CLASS giving students free time.  Use it wisely for closure.

Therefore, Souza's advice is to use this knowledge to plan our lessons.  No Prime Time 1 wasted on logistics or potentially erroneous information, and no Prime Time 2 wasted on "OK, now you can take the last 5 minutes of class to do a quiet activity until the bell rings."

We need to introduce new, important, correct information during Prime Time 1, and make sure we do closure during Prime Time 2.