MNEMONICS

BY:

C H R I S S Y E D M O N D S
A N D
L I N D S AY D E M P S E Y

WHAT IS A MNEMONIC?
A strategy for organizing and/or encoding
information with the sole purpose of making it
more memorable (Kovar & Vanpelt, 1991).
A tool that helps a person transform or organize
information to enhance its retrievability from
memory (Fisher, Brozo, Frey, & Ivey 2011).

WHO CAN THEY HELP?

Students with and without mental disabilities

English language learners
People with memory loss
Students who find school challenging

DISCUSSION
What are some examples of mnemonics?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKEat65ehI

TYPES OF MNEMONICS

1)
2)
3)
4)

Organizational Mnemonics
Encoding Mnemonics
Single-use Mnemonic Devices
Multiple-use Mnemonic Devices

TYPES OF MNEMONICS
Organizational Mnemonics to associate two
units that first appear unrelated into memory
o Example: A sentence to remember the cranial nerves.
On old Olympus towering top a Finn and German viewed
a hop. The first letter of each word represents a cranial
nerve.

Encoding Mnemonics changes a unit of

information to fit some other form or
organizational plan
o Example: Forming a visual image of what a word
represents. Picturing a deck of cards when trying to
remember Dr. Cardas name.
Kovar & Vanpelt, 1991

TYPES OF MNEMONICS
Single-use Mnemonic Devices uses different
cuing structures for different units of information
o Example: BEEF in basketball to remember set-shot
technique (balance, eyes, elbow, follow through) or SASS
in volleyball to remember pass technique (stability, arm
position, sight, set)

Multiple-use Mnemonic Devices uses the same

cuing structure for different units of information
o Example: BEEF to remember the basketball set-shot
(balance, eyes, elbow, follow through) and the volleyball
pass (balance, eyes, extension, follow through).

Kovar & Vanpelt, 1991

BEFORE READING
B.E.E.F.
Why?
To build background knowledge
Motivation
Another way to teach information
It is almost impossible to overemphasize the importance of
free throws, both to teams and to players. If you have a
player who can make just 4 baskets per game and add 4
free throws to his total, you have a double figure score.
Adding 15 points from the free throw line to your teams
total would create a very difficult obstacle for your
opponents to overcome.

THE IMPORTANCE
In a study by Kovar & Vanpelt, students taught
how to shoot a free throw using the acronym
BEEF scored one and one-half more baskets out
of 10 trials than students who did not.

Kovar & Vanpelt, 1991

WORKS CITED
Fisher, D., Brozo, W., Frey, N., & Ivey, G. (2011). 50
Instructional Routines to Develop Content Literacy (2nd
ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Kovar, S., & Vanpelt, C. (1991). Using A First-Letter
Mnemonic To Improve Basketball Set-Shot Performance.
Perceptual and Motor SKills, 72(3C), 1383-1390.
Scrubs- remembering names (Mnemonic devices).
(n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2015 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKEat65ehl
Site Search. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2015, from
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals
/foulshooting.html