The learning pyramid is a model explaining that learners only retain a portion of the intended goal. Depending on the method of implementation, that portion can be inadequate or significant. There are different versions of the pyramid. In most, “lecture” has a small percentage of retention while “creating” has a large percent of retention.
The Driving Question
The article “Why We Forget (Almost) Everything We Learn And How To Fix That”[1. Bruno Boksic, eLearning Ingindustry.] states that the lowest retention percentage starts with…
- Lecture
- Reading
- Videos
- Demos
- Discussions
- Creation
- Teaching
…which has the most significant retention percentage.
Based on that article, the driving question was, “Think about and describe how you might boost retention of knowledge in your instructional solutions. Provide some examples of active learning techniques you could integrate into current (and future) projects.” [2. Joseph Rene Corbeil, The “EdTech” Blog.]
Mr.G’s Ideas
In short, having students teach is essential. Most of the work is project-based in a CTE classroom, and creation is part of the class. Teaching may be challenging to implement. My ideas are to have students:
- help each other
- present/teach specific topics
- create blog posts
- create podcast episodes
The last two are the most meaningful for authentic learning.
