A poor child may have a poor working memory

Children who do poorly at school may have only a lower working memory than low intelligence, according to researchers from Durham University who have created the world's first tool to evaluate Memory ability in the classroom.

Scientists surveyed more than 3,000 children and found that 10% of children of different ages with poor working memory greatly affected their learning. However, researchers find that poor working memory is rarely recognized by teachers, who often describe children who encounter this problem as inattentive or with poorer intelligence.

The new tool will help teachers identify and assess their ability to remember in the classroom from age 4 onwards. Researchers believe that assessing children at an early stage will help teachers apply new teaching methods, and thereby help solve the problem of poor learning at school.

Without proper intervention, memory works poorly in children, previously thought to be due to genetics, which can affect the success of long-term learning until adulthood and prevent children from achieving Get your potential.

Although the new tool has been successfully used for piloting in 35 schools in the UK, this is the first time they have been widely used.

Working memory is the ability to store information in the head and process that information in the brain. You use brainstorming space when adding two numbers together when another person reads to you without using pen and paper or computer. Children in school need this type of memory every day to perform tasks such as following the teacher's instructions and remembering the sentences they are asked to write down.

Top researcher Dr. Alloway from Durham University's Department of Education, explains: 'Memory works a bit like a piece of paper and if a person with a good working memory will do it for me. my education is easier ".

'From various large-scale studies done, we believe the only way for children with poor working memory to achieve academic success is to teach them how to learn even if their ability to keep information. believe in the brain less than other children. '

The new tool called Working Memory Rating (Working Memory Rating Scale) will help teachers identify children whose teachers think there are memory problems working without forcing them to take tests. High scores on the computer indicate that children may have working memory problems and they affect their learning progress. If the teacher feels much concerned about the child's learning results in the classroom, the teacher can let the child perform a computerized Automated Working Memory Assessment (Automated Working Memory Assessment) .

Both tools are issued by Pearson Assessment. Research creates the foundation for making AWMA tools funded by the Council for Economic and Social Research and the British Academy.

Case Study - Principal of Lakes Primary School in Redcar, Cleveland. Lakes Elementary School has worked with Dr. Alloway to know how to recognize poor working memory by using new tools.

Principal Chris Evans said: 'Dr. Alloway's study of working memory attracted my interest in recognizing how some children in school may suffer from poor working memory. We now have the knowledge and tools to assess appropriately and skillfully to help these children be more successful in school. We have begun to look at children with new perspectives, know more about the difficulties that children with poor working memory face. We recognize that these children are not dreamers, lack of attention or poor learning, but simply children who need other teaching methods. We think new ways of learning will help both teachers and children to successfully complete their work. '

When do we use memory to work in everyday life?

- Multiply two numbers together like 43 and 27 by another person for you without using pen and paper or computer.

- Remember a new phone number, website address or vehicle number.

- According to the verbal instructions like going straight to the roundabout, turn left at the second intersection and the building on the right opposite the church.

- Remember a strange foreign name of a person who has just been introduced to you for a while so you can reintroduce this person to another person.

- Measure and combine the right amount of ingredients (Use 50g margarine and 100g flour and then add 75g sugar) when you've finished reading the recipe but don't look at the recipe page anymore.

Thanh Van (According to Durham University, Dong Nai Department of Science and Technology)