24 Association Activity 5
Activity #A5: Knowledge Association
Write down any links in knowledge association that you have had in your high school or college career. For example, is there a series of courses that you have taken or must take that will build upon one another?
In Psychology, we ask our students to 1st learn about Introductory topics, then they learn to do statistics on these topics (that usually doesn’t work well unless the instructor brings statistical computations alive with fun psychological examples). Finally, students put psychology topics and statistics together into a course called research methods (the image below depicts these connections). The final glue that tests knowledge and associates it is when students plan their own experiments on topics they are interested in researching.
It can be difficult to associate all new information with what you are learning to something you know. If you are really having a challenging time with this, one last piece of advice is to try explaining a new concept to a friend or family member. I call this teach and tell. When you explain something to people who might know little about that topic you must use simple words and ideas. Thinking of challenging concepts in ways your grandpa would best understand slows you down and is effortful. This effort is good for memory as it provides an opportunity to make more connections for learning. Who knows, your grandpa may be able to add to the conversation or at least ask questions to guide more learning.
