Sense and Meaning - Closure

The main criteria for long term storage of knowledge is: sense and meaning (relevance.)  Therefore, it is important to integrate curriculum and make connections.

Students ask themselves:

• Does this make sense?
• Does it have meaning?

Closure: the covert process whereby the learner's working memory summarizes for itself its perception of what has been learned.  It is during closure that a student often completes the rehearsal process and ataches sense and meaning to the new learning, thereby increasing the probability that it will be retained in long-term storage.

Closure is different from review: In review, the teachers does most of the work.  In closure, the student does most of the work by mentally rehearsing and summarizing those concepts and deciding whether they make sense and have meaning.

When to use closure: at various times.  It can start a lesson, it can occur during the lesson, or at the end of a lesson.

This year I have started practicing closure in my lessons.  I am still not systematic about it, and I am working towards improvement.  I need to make it a part of my teaching routine.