Mnemonics
I'm so glad to see a discussion of mnemonics. I teach the dining room service course in a culinary arts college and use mnemonics every time I lecture/demo on how to set a table for formal dining service. It really helps students remember more easily what they need to do. Our mnemomic is "4's on left, 5's on the right" meaning that a fork (f-o-r-k has 4 letters) goes on the left (l-e-f-t has 4 letters). Knife and spoon have 5 letters and they go on the right (5 letters). Works everytime !!!
Mnemonics are a fun and wonderful way of remembering a lot of wiring diagrams.
Shannon,
Fun simple way to burn these essential concepts into the working memories of your students. By involving both the cognitive and tactile aspects the retention rate is greatly increased.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Setting table I have them make a B with their left hand "that's where the bread and butter plate go and a D with their right hand "thats where the drinks go~on the right.
William,
I use them a lot and they really help my students remember the critical content. One of the fun activities for my students is to come up with a mnemonic for certain content. They treat it like a game.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
William,
Good point. At times I have to stop and have the acronyms explained to me in relation to the field in which I am working that day. So as we teach the use of them we have to remind our students to keep their audiences in mind when they use them in a professional setting.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I like that! I am sure that it helps the students remember. I hope I can remember it to use in my classes.
I like that! I am sure that it helps the students remember. I hope I can remember it to use in my classes.
I really used to like acronyms. However, I am beginning to get the feeling that they are being over used. With the new technology that has been enhanced by computer usage, there are so many acronyms out there that some have multiple meanings. For example, CDs could be compact discs or Certificates of Deposit.
Hi Martha,
I do the same with my students and it is always a fun time in the class. They students are really creative when it comes to coming up with mnemonics. We even have contests to select the most creative ones.
Gary
Mnemonics are so useful and they are also fun for the students. I always ask each student if they would like to share their own unique mnemonics with the class because maybe someone else can use it to help him/her remember the material better.
I find the use of mnemonics to be a very valuable tool. The students find them interesting, if not funny, and anything that aides in student retension is just fine with me.
I use "P.lease E.xecute M.y D.umb A.lgebra S.tudent to help them remember order of operations. It adds humor in the classroom, too.
here's another one I use in sanitation that I'm not sure everyone will like, but it works. I associate listeria with "hysteria" and pregnant women being hysterical.
Brilliant Kathleen! That is certianly a way they can retain the information. Mnemonics have helped me with rote memorization through college and I also use it in the classes I teach.
Hi Sue,
I know they have been a life save for me. I used them when I was taking some medical training and without them I would never have been able to remember even half of all the words I had to be able to recall, spell and use. Plus mnemonics are fun for the students to create.
Gary
I use Mnemonics in the dental field to help the students to remember names of the dental instruments. Placing the instrument name in alphabetical order often helps the students to learn their names and uses.
Hi Dennis,
Having had a number of medical courses in my background I can relate to your comments. Without mnemonics I don't know how I would have learned any of the required terms.
Gary
We utilize Mnemonics in the medical field to remember certain disease processes and other pertinent information.
Hi Debra,
Wondering what your students come up with when they create their own mnemonic for learning the nerves or other important content. I know my students are very creative in this area and we have a lot of fun with the words they create and how they go about memorizing the content. Helps to relieve some of the stress in addition to being highly effective.
Gary
