Experience has shown that drawing comparisons helps students to memorise and remember more complex facts. If the teacher can create images in a course that relate to the students, for example because they come from everyday life and link them to a subject-related content, then students can memorise this subject-related content well and recall it over a longer period of time.
The use of images lends itself to disciplines with figurative topics, but can also be used very well for subjects with more abstract topics:
- Example: To illustrate and metaphorically describe a specific sediment structure / geological conditions, a comparison is made with a soup plate containing pancakes covered in icing sugar. This can be used to visualise the different sediment layers.
- Example: The water availability in soils can not only be compared but also demonstrated with a table sponge.
Once such an image has been created and "anchored", technical terms can be gradually introduced to replace or supplement the bold, everyday terms.
If a further link can be created to tactile perception, for example of patterns, samples or models, the ability to memorise is further strengthened.
