Looking for a way to speed student learning, increase problem-solving skill, and improve retention of knowledge students learn?
Cognitive experts predict learning will be accelerated if at the start of a new topic, students gain “automaticity” in recalling the definitions of new vocabulary.
Below we’ve posted an assignment that helps students learn initial electrochemistry vocabulary during homework. The assignment takes 10 minutes of class time but frees up 1-2 in-class hours for electrochem demonstrations and problem solving.
Quizzes are included to encourage homework completion, and cognitive science supporting vocab automaticity is discussed.
Helping students gain automaticity in recall of fundamentals is strongly supported by cognitive research — but experiments and tweaks are always required to adapt science to unique classroom conditions. Will “text-based homework and quiz” work for your students?