Working memory is limited.

There is a consensus among psychologists that it is roughly limited to 7 pieces of information, plus or minus two.

Working memory is what we use to process information in the moment.

In any lesson we are asking learners to constantly use their working memory to learn, think, and complete tasks.

If a learner’s working memory becomes overloaded, they may run into difficulties.

It is then harder for them to effectively target their effort.

Some learners will have learned strategies for dealing with this.

For example, they may store some information on scrap paper, freeing up space with which to think.

For those learners who haven’t developed such strategies, however, an overloaded working memory may lead them to withdraw from the learning.

This reaction is understandable.

It can also reinforce perceptions that effort is not a route to mastery and therefore serves no purpose.

As teachers, it is important we are alive to working memory.

Paying attention to it means thinking about when our learners might find themselves overloaded.

It also means being aware that a learner who looks as if they are withdrawing from the learning may be doing so because they have unknowingly reached the limit of their capacities at that point in time.

We can help learners who find themselves in this situation in lots of ways, all of which make it easier for them to target their efforts.

Here are four examples:

1. Teach learners strategies for freeing up space in their working memories. For example, writing things down on scrap paper, verbalising thoughts, and chunking items together.
2. Scaffold the work. For example, by breaking a task down into a series of subtasks, by providing learners with support in the form of a writing frame, or by suggesting what learners might do next instead of leaving it to them to decide.
3. Use questions to direct learner thinking, taking them through a series of things one at a time. For example, you might first ask them what they were thinking about, then why they thought that, then why they became stuck, then what they need to know to move on. This process helps learners unpick a challenge by breaking it down into a series of steps.
4. Make learners aware of what working memory is, how it works, what its limitations are, and how to make best use of it. You can do this with the whole class or with individual learners.

Success Criteria

Success criteria help learners to target their efforts by giving them a clear understanding of what they need to do to be successful.

Without success criteria, they may spend more time trying to work out what they should be doing than getting on with the task you have set.

Looked at in this way, we can say that success criteria do a bit of the work for the learner, by defining what success entails.

This means they are a form of scaffolding.

And, as we have just seen, scaffolding helps simplify what learners need to do, lowering the burden on their working memory.

An added advantage is that you can use success criteria to redirect learner effort during the lesson.

They are a visual cue to which you can refer, putting learners back on track if they have lost focus.

Here are five examples of how you can use success criteria to help learners target their efforts, supporting their working memory in the process:.

Example 1

Supplement the tasks you set with three success criteria that learners need to meet to be successful.

Develop the idea by including two additional success criteria as challenges.

These then act as an extension, pushing the thinking, and therefore the effort, of any learner who gets onto them.

Example 2

Show learners a piece of exemplar work and highlight the sections that connect to the success criteria you are asking them to meet.

Extend the activity by handing out copies of the exemplar work and asking learners to assess how effectively this meets the various criteria.

Then, challenge them to surpass this in their own work.

Example 3

Encourage learners to use the success criteria you provide as guides when they are planning and executing their own work.

For example, a Food Technology teacher might set three success criteria – one based on preparation, one based on creation, and one based on attention to detail.

They could then encourage their learners to focus on each of these in turn as they move through a cooking activity.

Example 4

Set learners an activity and explain that there are four success criteria you want them to meet.

Reveal the first two and then indicate that you will reveal the others during the course of the activity.

Do this when it feels most appropriate – and watch as learners must reassess how they are targeting their efforts and then make changes in response to the new information you’ve shared.

Example 5

Train learners to self-assess their work at specific points using the success criteria you provide.

For example, half-way through an activity, just before the end, and after they have finished.

Highlight the relevance of each self-assessment.

For example, half-way through means ensuring you are on track, just before the end means you can make any alterations before you finish, and after you have finished means you can reflect on what went well and what you might need to improve next time.

Instant Feedback

Feedback of any kind gives learners information they can use to change, alter and adapt what they do.

Instant feedback means learners can do this in the moment – hence why it can be a particularly good way through which to target learner efforts.

When delivering instant feedback, you can tailor it, so it takes account of working memory.

This means you assess the learner in front of you and deliver feedback they will be able to use without becoming overloaded.

To illustrate, consider this example:

In a gymnastics lesson, the teacher has asked learners to create a routine involving a series of different elements – rolls, stretches and jumps.

Learners are working in groups of three.

They come up with their routines together, then perform them individually and give each other feedback.

The activity lasts for around fifteen minutes and the teacher has made clear that learners need to perform and improve their routines at least three times.

There is also an extension activity lined up for anybody who feels they have perfected their routine within the time limit.

As the activity takes place, the teacher walks through the sports hall, moving from group to group.

They observe what is happening and provide instant feedback, tailoring this to the learners in front of them, and taking account of working memory.

For example:

• ‘Jack, that’s a nice transition from the floor but I think you’ve made it too easy for yourself. When I come back, I want to see a higher level of difficulty, OK? Review the options and add in something with a higher tariff.’
• ‘Terence, give Marcus some support while he’s trying to hold his legs up. That’s it. Keep doing that during his repeat performances. I want you to help him improve his form.’
• ‘Danny, I didn’t see a jump in that routine. Remember what I said at the start of the activity? Tim, Saleem – you guys suggest a jump he can include then give him some feedback after he’s worked it into the routine.’

Imagine if the teacher continued to do this through the course of the fifteen minutes, ensuring they visited each group at least once.

Now compare that situation to the same task, but with the teacher stood at the front of the room, observing but not intervening.

The first approach involves the teacher exerting a greater degree of control over how learners are directing their efforts.

The feedback is instantaneous.

It takes account of working memory.

Learners can use it, in the moment, to refine what they are doing.

They will also quickly see the results of their efforts – and be able to draw a connection between targeted effort and improved performance.

The principle can be applied across the curriculum.

In summary, it involves the teacher circulating during activities, providing instant feedback on what learners have done, tailoring this feedback so it takes account of working memory, and then giving learners time to implement it.

Keyword Quota

Here is a specific activity structure put together with the express intention of targeting learner effort and taking account of working memory:

Keywords

• Amoeba; Cellulose; Cytoplasm; DNA; Mitochondria; Nucleus; Vacuole; Membrane; Diffusion; Osmosis; Chloroplasts; Zygote.

Task

• You have three minutes to write a piece on the topic of ‘Cells.’
• Your minimum keyword quota is six.
• No lists or bullet points are allowed.

The activity directs learner attention, causing pupils to attend closely to the specified topic, and to do so in a way that is highly circumscribed.

The example is generic.

We could replace the topic of cells with anything – trees, nuclear fission, the politics of Bismarck – and we could alter the caveats in various ways – extend the time limit, change the keyword quota, add in additional restrictions on top of no lists and no bullet points.

This gives the activity a great deal of scope and demonstrates why it is essentially a vessel into which different content can be placed.

We can take a few things away from this.

First, the activity is a great one to have as part of your repertoire.

It gives you a flexible way through which to target learner effort (and it can be applied in non-logico-linguistic subjects as well, with a bit of tweaking).

Second, it demonstrates what can be achieved when we set out to plan an activity with the targeting of learner effort at the forefront of our minds.

Making this our central aim means we think slightly differently about how we might structure an activity and what consequences this might have for learner thinking.

Third, and finally, it illustrates the general benefit of caveats as a tool through which to target learner effort.

Caveats are those riders we place onto a task, circumscribing the scope of what learners are expected to do.

In this case, the caveats are an essential part of the activity (a keyword quota of six; no lists or bullet points).

However, it is perfectly possible to append caveats to almost any activity.

They then act as a supplement – and work in a way not dissimilar to success criteria – shaping how learners think about a task.

And what about working memory?

Well, the provision of the keywords is key.

By giving these to learners, we are freeing up space in their working memory.

They don’t have to expend effort remembering the keywords.

We’ve done that for them.

Instead, they can focus on the higher order elements of the task.

And they’ll improve their recall of the keywords because applying them in the context of their writing is a form of active practice.