Why we remember Paul Revere
Read moreAs I mentioned last time, American grade school children study in considerable detail the events leading up to their nation’s Declaration of Independence of 1776. They commit to memory—and reproduce on various tests—the names of the generals, the battles, and the turning points that shaped the colonies’ fight for independence. While it is difficult to know exactly how long such
An enlightening illustration of the power of narrative for memory
Read moreNot long ago, I was listening to an interview with the renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Before getting to the true subject of the podcast, Tyson and the host were engaged in a freewheeling discussion on a variety of subjects, including Van Gogh’s painting “Starry Night” and Longfellow’s poem about Paul Revere’s legendary ride through the streets of colonial Massachusetts.
The enhanced memory effect of learning through story
Read moreIn recent posts, we have seen that my business school students were far better at recalling stories and cases than they were at remembering facts, theory, or the rational discourse of lectures. At the same time that I was observing this enhanced memory effect in my classrooms, I was also finding research that explains why this might be so. In
Storytelling first, yes, but never to the exclusion of rationality
Read moreThis week, a reader comment showed me the need to clarify something I stated in a misleading manner. The observation came from a former client who has followed my work and writing for many years, and she certainly has a clear understanding of who I am and what I believe. Her remark concerned the title of the recent post “Science
Why stories form our native language
Read moreAt the end of the last blog entry, I promised to discuss some of the evidence I found that thinking in narrative form is a natural tendency of the human mind. Once again, my curiosity around this theme—narrative thinking versus scientific thinking—stemmed largely from my ongoing observations as a lecturer. As I leaned more and more in the direction of
Science vs. story: which approach is the most useful for learning?
Read moreIn the past weeks, I have written about my students’ capacity to recall, with high levels of precision and detail, many of the stories and lessons from the cases we studied. Moreover, over a period of some twenty-five years, I have been continuously surprised by the frequency and the insightful nature of the communication I have received from former students.