A mnemonic is an instructional strategy designed to help students improve their memory of important information. This technique connects new learning to prior knowledge through the use of visual and/or acoustic cues. The basic types of mnemonic strategies rely on the use of key words, rhyming words, or acronyms. Teachers may develop mnemonic strategies or have students come up with their own.
Mnemonics are strategies that can be modified to fit a variety of learning content. This method enhances memory of complex words or ideas and promotes better retention of material to be learned.
Letter strategies include acronyms and acrostics (or sentence mnemonics). For example, the acronym DNA can be used to help students recalling: Deoxy-Ribonucleic Acid.
- D: Deoxy
- N: Nucleic
- A: Acid
mnemonics are a powerful device to use in classrooms but when used in excess can be a devastating tool for both the teacher and the students because once the students start depending more and more on the abbreviations they will begin to forget the whole word phrases, maybe confuse the formal with the slang language and even may start to confuse the mnemonics from one subject with the other, however, once used properly they can be of huge benefit as you said.
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