Activate+Background+Knowledge

Activate background knowledge and link new information with student's prior experiences

Students have a much easier time assimilating new information when it is connected with preexisting knowledge. Activating or priming student's background knowledge allows them to integrate it with existing knowledge and construct new understand. Students will also have an easier time adapting existing conceptions.
 * Strategy Description **


 * Practical Application **


 * Use analogies and metaphors when teaching
 * Connect new content with previously learned material in your course
 * Before introducing a new topic to your students, review the previously learned topic and explain how it relates to the new topic
 * Link new information with student's prior knowledge and experiences
 * Require students to recall an event or experience in their lives that related to the content you are about to present
 * Introduce new concepts or ideas with students by allowing them to experience them in a relatable context (e.g. see the economics example)


 * Examples: **

An instructor is attempting to teach students the economic systems of capitalism, socialism, and communism. Instead of simply sharing the definitions of these systems, the instructor presents the characteristics of each by asking questions with options that reflect each system. Click on the PowerPoint below to view the activity.
 * Economics Example **

Before introducing thermodynamics to a physics class, an instructor asks students to think about a time where they took a bite of pizza and burned the top of their mouths. They instructor then asks students why the pizza didn't burn their tongues. From there, the laws of thermodynamics are explained and related back to the pizza example.
 * Physics Example **

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