| Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their book, Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, discuss why people remember some ideas and forget others. Specifically, the Heath brothers have written an article, "Teaching That Sticks," that mostly originates from their book, Made To Stick, which advocates that teachers should use story telling as an effective communication vehicle, because students love to hear stories.
What Kind of Stories Work Well
Heath emphases that any kind of story normally works well. And, according to Heath, the story teller doesn't need to be a gifted orator in order to pull it off. The main idea is to use story telling integrated with the lesson plan.
Story telling will successfully impact the class. That is, the structure of story telling normally will deliver the goods with an effective class lesson. The story doesn't have to be entertaining or captivating. Heath emphasizes that even a boring old story is more effective than a bunch of facts thrown at students.
How to Use a Story
Heath offers an example of the case work of two college professors at Georgia State University, who rewrote their introduction to an accounting course, and featured a story at the center of their course.
The story was about two students, Kris and Sandy at LaGrande State University. The professor explained to his accounting class that Kris and Sandy were friends of the accounting class and they needed help. Specifically, Kris and Sandy wanted to know if their business idea was feasible.
The product was called Safe Night Out, which was a device aimed at parents of teenagers who were old enough to drive. When the device was installed in the automobile, the parent could tell what speed and distance the teenager had driven. This allowed the parents to know if their car was being driven safely.
The professor's story progresses to the point were his accounting students become part of the story. Kris and Sandy want to know how many units would they have to sell in order to pay their school's tuition.
Difficult accounting concepts, such as when to recognize revenue or how to figure current assets, could be placed on the story structure like ornaments on a Christmas tree. That is, each branch of a tree has a place for a specific ornament. Complex concepts, like cash flow could be related to a part of the story where Kris and Sandy enjoyed such rapid business growth that they ran out of money.
Did the Story Based Course Work?
Heath points out that during the next accounting course, two years later, follow up research found that students who took the accounting course with the story lesson scored 12 points higher on the average, during their first exam.
Heath feels that this story was not the most exciting thing in the world and probably Kris's and Sandy's start up business won't be demanded by a class to be heard again. Heath's conclusion is that the story structure was the reason for the successful results and not the story content.
Why Stories Work in Class
Stories work in class because they stimulate the brain, according to Heath. Stories stimulate the imagination which triggers the brain that stimulates tactile and visual areas leading to memory enhancement.
Additionally, storytelling can trigger mental stimulation which leads to skill building. Heath relates how research has shown that the use of disciplined imagination can enhance behavior skills in most endeavors like academics, sports and vocations.
Teach With Lessons Designed Around Stories
Great teachers know students love to learn stories. This is why effective teachers lead their classes with lessons designed around stories. Chip and Dan Heath emphasize that a story is like a flight stimulator for the brain. It's the next best thing to actually doing it.
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