Working Memory

Working memory is our ability to recall and manipulate new information, combining this with information drawn from long-term memory, to make sense of a particular situation. But how is this important in chemistry? Chemistry can sometimes be hard to learn because it works on different levels, ie the observable, the micro level with its symbolic representations, and frequently uses words in ways that have different meanings from everyday use. To help students learn chemistry teachers break down information into manageable chunks and use diagrams, models and analogies to explain concepts. Furat Hussein and Norman Reid from the University of Glasgow have investigated if this process actually works.¹