ABSTRACT
In planning instruction, the teacher needs to consider both the aspects of the learning process that are common to all pupils, and also those in which they may differ. This chapter considers methods for ensuring efficient learning by taking basic aspects of the process in turn. Information is received by the eyes and the ears and is stored in sensory memory while it is transferred to primary memory where it is analysed before being permanently stored in secondary memory where it is retained until it is recalled. The general effect of reducing the amount of time available for processing spoken material is to decrease the level of comprehension. The results of studies of presentation rate on learning performance indicate that the amount of time available to a pupil for analysing new information and storing it in secondary memory has a critical effect on performance.
