Activating Prior Knowledge asks students to recall what they already know either from their life experiences or from previous classes.
Too often, instructors tell students what they believe students already know. By asking students to recall past knowledge, new information has a greater chance of building upon or linking to students' previous learning.
Because we want our students to remember what they learn, our content delivery and prescribed student activities must help them encode, organize, and retrieve information.
Techniques that help students build on what they already know facilitate easier recall. Organizing strategies make it easier to remember more information. Information is more meaningful when taught in context. Reviewing information using different strategies helps students remember what they have learned and connect that knowledge to new information.
This project was awarded funding by the Provost's Advisory Council for Instructional Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh.
