What Every Teacher Should Know About the Science of Learning
The human brain has a remarkable and often unexpected way of making, storing, and retrieving memories. Did you ever wonder why it’s easy to learn some things and hard to learn other things? Why can you read a book and feel you learned a lot, only to find that you’ve forgotten most of it a year later? Why can you remember your first day of teaching, but not your tenth day?
What is the science of learning?
Cognitive scientists have conducted research on what’s called the “science of learning”—how we learn stories, names, facts, important events, unimportant events, and more. Research on the science of learning dates back more than 100 years.
Teaching fads feel like they’ve persisted for 100 years, too. Sometimes we learn about these fads during pre-service programs and professional development, and other times through word of mouth or online blogs. We’ve all had the experience of being excited about a “new” teaching idea, only to file the materials away for a rainy day. Rarely are these new strategies utilized, and professional development programs often feel like a waste of time.
There are two main reasons why educators keep reinventing the wheel with teaching strategies based on the “fad of the semester,” when scientifically based strategies are already out there:
The science of learning sits dormant in academic journals, rather than easily accessible in pre-service textbooks and professional development materials.
The science of learning has recently been featured in newspapers, blogs, and social media, but it’s hard to know if these are trusted sources or simply people concocting more fads.
Teachers are given the impossible challenge of finding time to seek out good research, make sense of it, and apply it in classrooms. Educators often ask, “Why haven’t I heard about this research before? Why didn’t I learn about this in my pre-service program or professional development?” It’s because this research isn’t accessible—literally and figuratively. There is valuable research on the science of learning out there, but it’s sitting behind lock and key.
4 Teaching Strategies Based on the Science of Learning
By drawing on empirical research by fellow cognitive scientists and practical strategies from educators around the world, let’s focus on four powerful teaching strategies based on the science of learning: retrieval practice, spaced practice, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition.
Retrieval practice boosts learning by pulling information out of students’ heads (e.g., quizzes and flashcards), rather than cramming information into students’ heads (e.g., lectures). Retrieval practice is a no-stakes learning opportunity that increases student performance, beyond formative and summative assessments.
Spaced practice boosts learning by spreading lessons and retrieval opportunities out over time so that learning isn’t crammed in all at once. By returning to content every so often, students’ brains have had time to rest and be refreshed.
Interleaving boosts learning by mixing up closely related topics and encouraging discrimination. For example, learning increases when students practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems all mixed up, rather than one type of problem at a time.
Feedback boosts learning by providing the student the opportunity to know what they know, and know what they don’t know. This enhances students’ metacognition or understanding about their own learning progress.
Research demonstrates that these four strategies:
Raise student achievement by a letter grade, or even two (from a C to an A.) Research shows there is a consistent and reliable increase in students’ grades, confidence, and engagement.
Boost learning for diverse students and subject areas at all grade levels and disciplines (e.g., STEM, social studies, language arts, fine arts, special education, and foreign languages).
Enhance higher-order learning and students’ transfer of knowledge. These strategies apply for basic fact knowledge, skill learning, and critical thinking.
When it comes to retrieval practice, spaced practice, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition, the combination of being research-based and classroom-proven is paramount. The rigor of science gives us confidence that these strategies aren’t fads, and successful classroom implementation gives us confidence that these strategies work in the real world, not just in the laboratory. The better you understhtand the research behind the strategies, the more effectively you can adapt them in your classroom to propel and guide student learning.
Adapted from Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning by Pooja K. Agarwal and Patrice M. Bain.
