Summarizing

A summary is a brief statement of the main points of something. When participants are asked to summarize, they must determine the most important ideas, ignore any irrelevant information, and integrate the central ideas in a meaningful way. The mental effort involved in producing a summary supports long-term retention. Studies have shown that participants asked to summarize recalled more information than those who engaged in self-question and note-taking activities. But summarizing has its limitations. Because learners focus on main ideas and major details, they often can’t recall smaller details.

There are five different ways to summarize:

  • Generalization followed by an example
  • General statement followed by a more particular statement
  • General preview followed by a discussion of detail
  • Compatibility review where different situations are compared and contrasted
  • Situation evaluation:
    • If the situation is satisfactory, then the summary outlines the positive evaluation.
    • If the situation is unsatisfactory, then the summary outlines the problem and the attempts to find a solution.

Summarizing can be incorporated in many different engagement activities including Quick Writes, Brainstorming, K-W-L Charts, Anticipation Guides, Think-Pair-Share, and Think-Pair-Write, see Think-Pair-Share.

 

Instructor-Led Training

Before moving onto the next lesson, pose a thought-provoking question like:

  • So what?
  • What do you want to remember?
  • What do you want to share with someone else?

Provide an index card or sticky note for participants to write their answers or ask them to share their responses with a partner. Call on one or two participants to share with the group.

Web Conference Training

The 3-2-1 summary activity adapts well to web conference training. At the end of a lesson or day, ask participants to list three main points, two controversial ideas (or things they disagree with), and one question related to the key concept or learning. Participants can post their summaries to the chat pod on the web conference platform.