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What are the best learning strategies to activate prior knowledge before introducing new information to students? Why is it so important to call up prior information before new information is presented? How do teachers accommodate students with limited prior knowledge on a subject?

One method of activating prior knowledge before introducing new information to students is a method called "advanced organizers". According to our book, this method was introduced by David Ausubel and was used to help students orient the materials that they were about to learn. This also helped them recall information that they had learned prior that could help them with incorporating the new information. Studies have shown that advanced organizers help with increasing students' understanding of certain kinds of materials as well. When given an advanced organizer, those students retained much more of the new material compared to those students who did not receive an advanced organizer. 

Another method of activating prior knowledge before introducing new information to students is called “analogies”. Like advanced organizers, analogies also play a key role in helping students understand by linking new information to prior knowledge. The reason for using analogies is because it helps students to learn new information by relating it to concepts that they have already learned prior. 

Elaboration can also help play a role in helping students learn new information. “Psychologists refer to this as the process of thinking about materials to be learned in a way that connects the material to information or ideas that are already in the learner's mind.” (Slavin, R. E. 2015) You can incorporate this strategy, by stating that the elaborated information is much easier to understand and/or remember, to help students comprehend lessons. 

Organization is also another way in helping students to understand. Organization has always played a huge role in helping me understand new concepts. It is easier for students to learn when information is organized in a logical way. It makes it meaningful and easier for them to learn and remember. “Material that is well organized is much easier to learn and remember than material that is poorly organized (Schmidt & Marzano, 2015). (Slavin, R. E. 2015).

Using questioning techniques and conceptual models can also help students to obtain new information easier. Using questioning techniques requires for students to stop from time to time and assess their own understanding of what the teacher and/or text is saying. Asking the students questions before introducing new materials can help students to learn the new material. Using conceptual models and diagrams can also help students comprehend topics. It allows them to not only learn but it also helps with allowing them to apply their learning to creatively solve problems.

It is important to call upon prior knowledge before presenting new knowledge because we increase the likelihood that our students will be able to recall and use what we teach by helping them engage their prior knowledge and connect new information to their prior understanding. “Our students come to us each with their own prior knowledge, conceptual understanding, skills and beliefs. When we present them with problems or new information, their prior knowledge and experiences influence their thinking.” (Wenk, L. 2017, September 14)

It is always important to make sure that your students have mastered a skill before moving on to a new skill. For example, make sure your student has prior knowledge based on a topic before distributing a new topic for them to obtain new knowledge. When a student has limited prior knowledge, it is important that the teacher not move on. They should always go back and reteach and/or go over what their previous lesson in order for all the students to know what is going on. Like in math, some math problems call for multiple steps. In order for a student to learn step 2, they must first learn step 1, and if they don’t know step 1 it makes it hard to move on to step 2. Because you can’t get to step 2, without step 1.

Because low-achieving students ask fewer and more inappropriate questions than other students do, teachers avoid calling on them. What are the implications of such a finding?  How can a teacher help low-achieving students engage in the question-asking process?

In my opinion, it is better to have students ask fewer and inappropriate questions then to not have them participating at all. When I have students do this, I always correct them in a calm manner and restate my question. Especially, because sometimes I can tell when a student is guessing and when they are serious about their answer statement. If a teacher never calls on a student, the student will soon notice and stop participating altogether. 

Teachers can help students in the question-asking process. The first step is to explain why questions are critical to the learning process. Provide students with clear rationales such as, “I use questions to understand other perspectives and to engage in collaborative thinking and learning” or “I ask myself questions to monitor my thinking and learning.” Identifying the function of a question is crucial in motivating students, and these sample stems serve as prompts for students who need help to form useful questions. One way to teach students to ask questions is to have them use the who, what, when, and where approach. This helps them to guide their questions.

References

Wenk, L. (2017, September 14). The importance of engaging prior knowledge. Retrieved from https://sites.hampshire.edu/ctl/2017/09/14/the-importance-of-engaging-prior-knowledge/

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology: theory and practice. New Jersey: Pearson.