Mnemonics

=Mnemonics=

A strategy to engage the students in learning would be to utilize a mnemonic device. In order to help the students remember what method to choose when solving absolute value equations, the following mnemonic rhyme could be presented to students: “If the original equation is ‘less than,’ then form an ‘and.’ If it is ‘greater,’ then form an ‘or.’” This strategy would serve to facilitate the students' understanding of when solutions would involve one “and” solution or two separate “or” solutions. According to cognitivism, mnemonics aid students in moving information from their short-term memory to their long-term memory and ultimately allow for more effective retrieval of information to be applied in the future (Ormrod, 2011). Therefore, this strategy would help the students meet the content objects of solving absolute value equations and inequalities, as it would promote building their memory of the three different procedures that the students must follow when solving these problems. However, this strategy does have its limitations, since it supports rote memorization rather than meaningful learning, so it should be supplemented with additional strategies as well (Ormrod, 2011).

The three procedures used when solving absolute value equations and inequalities are shown below. The second procedure involves the greater than symbol ("OR" solutions) while the third procedure involves the less than symbol ("AND" solutions).




 * "GreatOR" ==> "OR" s****olutions**


 * Less ThAN ==> "AND" solutions**