2020 Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 67-79
In this study, we examined the relationship between the instructional design of a science class in junior high school and the behavior of students in that class who had poor working memory. Three children with poor working memory and two with average working memory were selected from each of two classes and were observed in science and social science classes. One of the science classes was designed in a way that a summary of the subject matter was introduced by the teacher before the class began. The students were required to copy the contents of blackboard into their notebooks while the teacher wrote. The other science class was designed in the usual manner, in which the same teacher first posed a question to the students at first and helped them deduce the solution. In the experimental condition, it was found that students with poor working memory participated in the class activities to the same extent as students with average working memory. It was suggested that when knowledge was presented before the lesson, students with poor working memory could better understand the function of the lesson activities, which improved their participation in class.
