Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T14:11:46.585Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Pilot Classroom-Based Study of Attention and Working Memory Strategies for Primary-Aged Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2016

Susan Colmar ,
Nash Davis  and
Linda Sheldon
Susan Colmar*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nash Davis
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Department of Education, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Linda Sheldon
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Susan Colmar, Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, Room 805, Building A35, Manning Road, Camperdown 2006 NSW, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

An exploratory applied study, using a set of attention and working memory strategies specifically developed for students and named Memory Mates, was completed with normally developing students attending a primary school. Students in one classroom received the intervention, while the other classroom functioned as a control group. The study was experimental, with quantitative measures. Additional qualitative data was collected to facilitate the ongoing development of Memory Mates. A working memory instrument was used to rank students initially, and as a post-intervention measure for children with low working memory, with some gains in working memory observed in the experimental classroom students. Data were collected on academic achievement in reading, spelling, and maths. Post-intervention data analysis of the impact of the Memory Mates intervention showed no differences between the experimental and control groups for standardised academic measures. Several reasons are postulated for the lack of significant quantifiable change, chiefly the short period of intervention.

Keywords

working memoryclassroomsstudent-focussed strategiesexperimental intervention
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , June 2016 , pp. 125 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). (2008). Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading Comprehension (PAT-Reading) (4th ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). (2013). Progressive Achievement Tests in Mathematics (4th ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Alloway, T.P. (2011). Improving working memory. Supporting students' learning. London, England: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Alloway, T. (2012). Can interactive working memory training improving learning? Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 23(3), 197–207.Google Scholar
Alloway, R.G., & Alloway, T.P. (2013). The working memory advantage. Train your brain to function stronger, smarter, faster. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Alloway, T.P., Gathercole, S.E., & Kirkwood, H. (2008). Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS). London, England: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Alloway, T.P., Gathercole, S.E., Kirkwood, H., & Elliott, J. (2009). The working memory rating scale: A classroom-based behavioral assessment of working memory. Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 242–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aronen, E.T., Vuontela, V., Steenari, M-R., Salmi, J., & Carlson, S. (2005). Working memory, psychiatric symptoms, and academic performance at school. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 83, 33–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baddeley, A. (2003). Working memory: Looking back and looking forward. Nature Reviews: Neuroscience, 4, 829–839.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dalwood Assessment Centre. (2008). Dalwood Spelling Test. Seaforth, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Davis, N., Sheldon, L., & Colmar, S. (2014). Memory mates: A classroom-based intervention to improve attention and working memory. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 24, 111–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dehn, M.J. (2008). Working memory and academic learning: Assessment and intervention. Hoboken, NJ.: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Elliott, J.G., Gathercole, S.E., Alloway, T.P., Holmes, J., & Kirkwood, H. (2010). An evaluation of a classroom-based intervention to help overcome working memory difficulties and improve long-term academic achievement. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 9, 227–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S.E. (2008). Working memory in the classroom. The Psychologist, 21, 382–385.Google Scholar
Gathercole, S.E. (2015). Understanding and overcoming working memory problems in the classroom. Paper presented at the Pearson Academy Workshop, Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Gathercole, S.E., & Alloway, T.P. (2007). Understanding working memory: A classroom guide. London, England: Harcourt Assessment.Google Scholar
Gathercole, S.E., & Alloway, T.P. (2008). Working memory & learning. A practical guide for teachers. London, England: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Gathercole, S.E., Alloway, T.P., Kirkwood, H.J., Elliott, J.G., Holmes, J., & Hilton, K.A. (2008). Attentional and executive function behaviours in children with poor working memory. Learning and Individual Differences, 18, 214–223. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2007.10.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S.E., Lamont, E., & Alloway, T.P. (2006). Working memory in the classroom. In Pickering, S.J. (Ed.), Working memory and education (pp. 219–240). London, England: Elsevier Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gathercole, S.E, Pickering, S.J, Knight, C., & Stegmann, Z. (2004). Working memory skills and educational attainment: Evidence from national curriculum assessments at 7 and 14 years of age. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, J., Gathercole, S.E., & Dunning, D.L. (2010). Poor working memory: Impact and interventions. In Holmes, J. (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (vol. 39, pp. 1–43). Burlington, VT: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Klingberg, T. (2010). Training and plasticity of working memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14, 317–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klingberg, T., Fernell, E., Olesen, P.J., Johnson, M., Gustafsson, P., Dahlstrom, K., … Westerberg, H. (2005). Computerized training of working memory in children with ADHD — A randomized, controlled trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 177–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, G., Quach, J., Mensah, F., Gathercole, S. E., Gold, L., Anderson, P., … Wake, M. (2015). Schooling duration rather than chronological age predicts working memory between 6 and 7 years: Memory Maestros study. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 36, 68–74. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheldon, L., Davis, N., & Colmar, S. (2016). Memory Mates: A classroom-based intervention to improve attention and working memory in primary-aged students (e-book). Sydney, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Tidwell, J.W., Dougherty, M.R., Chrabaszcz, J.R., Thomas, R.P., & Mendoza, J. L. (2014). What counts as evidence for working memory training? Problems with correlated gains and dichotomization. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 620–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed