Although most of today’s parents experienced learning through lecture and reading, educators now realize that these teaching strategies do not work for all students. The field of education is continually increasing its efforts to diversify teaching methods. Studies have shown that presenting new information, which utilizes as many of our five senses (seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling) as possible, increases the likelihood of concept retention.

For example:

• A carpenter learning to build a deck is better equipped to do so if he’s been given the opportunity to see someone else build a deck as opposed to just reading about building a deck in a how to book.
  
  
• The smell of your mom’s meatloaf may help you recall what her house looked like and the feeling of specific family gatherings.
  
  
• Most children can better recall their ABCs by singing the ABC song that they sang and listened to in school.
  
  

Smartpencils is specifically aimed at tapping into students’ ability to learn with the sense of smell. Our goal is to provide students with a tool to assist their memorization of new information through scent.