MNEMONIC STRATEGIES AND CLASSROOM LEARNING - A 20-YEAR REPORT CARD

In this article I review a generation of educationally relevant mnemon ic (memory-enhancing) strategy research. A variety of mnemonic strateg ies and curricular applications are graded from A to F. Awarded A's ar e (1) mnemonic materials specially designed for factual content, and ( 2) mnemonic applications with educationally handicapped students. In t he B category are (1) student-generated simple mnemonic strategies fol lowing specific instructions and practice, and (2) extensions beyond m emory for lists of facts to memory for text-embedded information, as w ell as to alternative performance outcomes and alternative types of kn owledge. The C's and D's include (1) more complex mnemonic strategy ap plications and combinations, (2) independent strategy maintenance and transfer, and (3) mnemonic strategy instruction for ethnically differe nt students. Along with the identification of sources of strategy impl ementation failure (F) comes the prospect of future successes.