“Our senses are designed to work together, so when they are combined . . . the brain pays more attention and encodes the memory more robustly.”
~ Medina 2014
Multimodal Learning
Study after study show that memory improves when more than one sense is stimulated at the same time. The early pioneer in multimodal learning, Edgar Dale found that people learn better from pictures and words than from words alone. In more recent years, Richard Mayer has established that learners who receive input in a variety of senses have better recall than learners who receive input that is only visual or auditory. Hear a piece of information, and three days later you’ll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65%. (Medina 2014) Furthermore, people who receive information via multiple modalities are more creative in their problem solving by 50% to 75% (Newell, Bulthoff, Ernst 2003).
The ultimate expression of simultaneous and multimodal learning is learning by doing. When we learn by seeing and hearing, we remember 50% fourteen days later. But we remember 90% if we actually experience it. (Dale 1969) This means that simulations, such as role plays, are very effective in helping students remember the new language they learned. Continue reading
