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VOLUME XI, NUMBER 18

@ S* INNOVATION ABSTRACTS

 

New Students, New Semester:

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID.W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION.

  

How to Remember Names and Faces

It’s the first day of a new semester. In addition to the
enthusiasm and optimism inherent in new beginnings,
we as teachers also must confront a humbling task:
how to learn the names and faces of the 20 to 40 unfa-
miliar students expectantly sitting before us.

And we must learn them quickly! In teaching, as in
so many other fields, first impressions count for much.
Before becoming teachers, all of us were students; we
learned, if only subconsciously, that teachers who were
slow in learning the names of their students tended to
be uninspired and uninspiring. Although we certainly
don’t want our students to come to that harsh prejudg-
ment of us, we are only human. Almost all of us find it
difficult to put together names with the faces of so
many new people in short order. The only individuals
who seem to succeed, apart from professional memory
trainers and sales representatives, are politicians.

®

Actually, there is a technique that can reliably be
used to associate the names and faces of at least 75% of
a typical first day class size of 20-40 new students. Even
better, skillful use (i.e., the right amount of showman-
ship) of this technique can leave the impression that
you have gotten to know almost all the students’ names
and faces by the start of the second class meeting.

STEP 1

Before coming to class, read the class roster several
times. Focus on the last names and honorifics (Mr//
Ms.). Memorize as many of them as you can.

By familiarizing ourselves with the names before-
hand, we set up a kind of cognitive dissonance: If we
know there is a Jones in the class, then we can concen-
trate on looking for Jones and remembering what he or
she looks like. Under this procedure, paradoxically,
students with unusual names become easier to remem-
ber. At this point there is no need to focus on the first,
or given names. That just increases memory burden
oO without yielding important initial benefits.

STEP 2
Start the class by introducing yourself and describing
your background and expectations for the course.
Conclude by saying that you would like to learn more
about them, but there isn’t time for everyone to be as
longwinded as you’ve been. Hand out a “Student
Expectations Survey” that asks for a name, address,
and phone number(s), and includes an open-ended
essay question about backgrounds and expectations.
Allow students at least 15 minutes of writing time.
While the students are busy writing, take the oppor-
tunity to study their faces, clothing styles, posture,
haircuts—anything, in short, that you can use to person-
alize the individual student. This visual information
also sets up a cognitive dissonance: you'll certainly
want to learn the name of the punk rocker with the
purple hair. (The writing exercise is not only a chance
to study the physiognomy of your students, but is also a
way of taking attendance and gauging the overall
intellectual potential and interests of your new class.)

STEP 3

In addition to absorbing the “tableau” of visual
information presented by individual students, set up a
mnemonic positional framework. For example, ina
traditional classroom layout, call the first row on your
left “A,” the second row, “B,” and so on. Similarly,
call the first student in row “A,” 1; the second, 2, etc.
Modify this positional framework to fit various
possible seating arrangements.

This framework is the heart of the technique pre-
sented. It relies on a curious fact of student sociobiol-
ogy: students almost invariably return to the same seat
they occupied during the first class, or in reasonable
proximity. For example, students who choose to sit in
the back of the room on the first day will almost never
voluntarily change their seat to the front, and vice
versa. Students who seem to prefer quick access to the
door will sooner die than sit over by the windows, and
vice versa.

 

 

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THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)
Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin