# SLOP4408 — Week 2: Build a Memory Palace

Campus / printable lab pack · Semester 1, 2027

## The task

Prepare an instruction handoff. Compare three ways of keeping details available and decide when memory is useful and when an external record is better.

In-person teaching is preferred. The paper route is a complete conceptual activity when apparatus is unavailable; online students use the equivalent controls and keep the same learning record.

The investigation, experiment, agreement or revision is this week's practical output. A staged field handover is optional and cannot replace the reasoning record.

## Learning outcomes

- Record separate unaided, location-cued and written-note trials without concealing errors or assistance.
- Compare exact-item and order accuracy while identifying rehearsal limits.
- Choose a strategy based on note access, exactness and shared verification.

## Equipment

Four location cards, the three item lists, opaque cover sheets and a recall comparison sheet. Real walking is optional.

## Facilitator setup

Place location cards around a room or in a row on a table. Provide a seated, visual or spoken route with the same order. Give each student their own list copy.

## Complete supplied rules

**MP-01** is the four-location route. **MP-02** supplies lists and contexts; use the student record for the comparison.

- Route: Atrium → Fountain → Workshop → Observatory.
- Practice: Compass, Lantern, Coil, Archive. Context: a short spoken briefing with your hands occupied; the receiver keeps the printed record for checking.
- Skill check: Lens, Battery, Map, Seal. Context: tomorrow's audit needs exact order available to someone absent today.
- Transfer: Sample, Receipt, Sensor, Capsule. Context: a brief equipment outage prevents the receiver opening the written record; reconcile with it afterwards.
- Record one unaided trial, one location-cue trial and one written-note trial for each phase you discuss. A separate note remains available in the written-note condition.
- Score exact items and correct positions separately out of four. Imperfect recall can complete this investigation when the trials and suitable strategy are recorded.
- Record assistance, list reuse and extra rehearsal; this practice comparison is not a controlled experiment or proof of photographic memory.

## Two-hour schedule

These are the teaching session's time blocks, not six compulsory game objectives. Adjust timing as needed; reasoning matters more than speed.

| Time | Activity |
| --- | --- |
| 0–10 minutes | Predict which strategy helps when instructions must be exact and notes may be unavailable. |
| 10–30 minutes | Attempt unaided retrieval and preserve errors before seeing the worked mnemonic. |
| 30–60 minutes | Build four place–item associations; retrieve and compare with the baseline. |
| 60–80 minutes | Perform a written-note trial and compare accuracy and shared verification. |
| 80–105 minutes | Use the changed list and access condition; choose and justify a strategy. |
| 105–120 minutes | Keep all three trials and state what the comparison cannot establish. |

## Worked example · a different scenario

In the separate storm-kit example, the first unaided attempt retrieves only Lens and Beacon. The demonstrator then fixes the route Gate → Pool → Press → Dome and associates Lens, Tether, Pocket atlas and Beacon with those places. A Tether splashing in the Pool supplies a distinctive cue. The guided retrieval gets all four, but a later attempt substitutes ‘book’ for Pocket atlas. Keeping that error makes the comparison useful: a stronger map-specific cue can be tested, while one improved attempt does not prove lasting improvement. When a written checklist is allowed at the final handoff, the demonstrator keeps it as the shared reference. A remembered sequence helps temporarily; it does not replace an accurate record another person must check.

[Watch this separate example and inspect its finished record](/demonstrations/lab-02/).

The example explains a method. Its completed decisions are not the assigned task. Use the materials above for your own choices.

## Practice

Record unaided, cued and written-note trials using the practice list. Use separate score rows; imperfect recall is acceptable.

## Skill check

Use the second list and audited-handover context. Independently choose the record someone absent today will need tomorrow.

## Transfer challenge

Use the third list during the stated temporary record outage. Propose a temporary strategy and explain the later reconciliation.

## Student record

**Named output: recall-strategy.**

Keep three labelled trials—unaided, location cues and written notes—with item score, order score, assistance and context. Recommend a strategy when notes are available and when they are not.

Record your name/role, phase and scenario, prediction before action, evidence requested, result, decision, alternative and remaining uncertainty. Include assistance, format used and any physical-model limitation. Keep a failed attempt that explains a revision.

The investigation, experiment, agreement or revision is this week's practical output. A staged field handover is optional and cannot replace the reasoning record.

## Explanation — reveal after an attempt

Compare all three methods, including errors and assistance. Durable written records support later audit and other people; temporary cues can help when notes cannot be consulted. Explain later reconciliation and the limits of your small, repeated-list comparison. Perfect recall is not required.

A facilitator judges the reasoning. The record's existence and the model's successful result do not by themselves establish learning.

## Reflection and later use

Which cue helped you retrieve an item, and what would make that cue fail?

Memory is optional support in A1 and handoffs. The final project does not require recall when an accurate external record serves the objective better.

## Evidence and limitations

Save **recall-strategy** with your explanation. Physical activities are proposed teaching designs, not hardware-tested equipment. Distinguish model-card results from actual measurements. Neither browser success nor paper completion establishes physical dexterity or classroom enjoyment. A dated station record is sufficient; a duplicate browser run is not required.

## Printable model sheet

[Printable scene and memory cards](./perception-cards.svg). Print at 100% on A4 and check the labelled 50 mm line. These are conceptual paper aids, not physically validated apparatus.