What Makes Learning Successful?: Lessons from “Make It Stick”

Why do some people learn faster than others? Why do some people seem to remember things that we struggle to memorise? In a country like Singapore where educational achievements are prized, the implications of learning effectively from young are vast. Which is why we have summarised some of the key learnings from the book, “Make It Stick” by Peter Brown, which explores topics like:

• Beliefs and practices that hinders learning effectiveness

• How learning really happens

• Why effortful learning is important, and what we can do to embrace the practice

• How to effectively retrieve knowledge

• 4 practical steps to learn better

In this article, we share our key takeaways from the book about learning and how we are/have incorporate(d) it into the curriculum at SHINE!

Practices that hinder learning effectiveness

Many of us probably do a lot of repetitive reading, highlighting and practice. But research has found that a lot of these, though seemingly productive, are labour in vain.

Here are some of the practices that may be hindering your learning.

1. Doing simple practices instead of mixed practices - In two studies, the results show how random practice makes you a better problem-solver. A study done with baseball hitters doing simple vs mixed practice showed how those who did mixed practices instead of clustered, single-type exercises had better identification and successfully hit more pitches than those who knew which kind were coming. Another study with training pilots and jet stimulators who faced with unexpected problems showed better performance as well. Overall, the people who underwent mixed practice or unexpected problems (doing more effortful retrievals) performed much better than those who underwent simple practice.

2. Making learning simple and clear - There is an illusion that simple and clear is a better way to learn, and many educators try to make things simple and clear. In fact, some difficulties that make it a little more difficult make it deeper and make it stick better.

But what recent cognitive research shows is that we don’t learn by trying to get the knowledge into the brain. We learn and make it stick by trying to get it out of our brain. This is because effortful retrieval makes consolidations stronger. It causes our brain to go and reconsolidate those learnings to actually do more work with the learning that’s there. The connections in our long-term memory are not only stronger, but when you practice in different settings, in different sequences, you get associations between that learning and the other things that you know and are learning. You therefore build a more complex embedding of that knowledge in the mind.

How learning really happens

When we learn, two main processes happen:

1. Storing (short term) - when we are exposed to a new skill or knowledge, we try to make sense of the information by rehearsing it, filling in the gaps and determining the important ideas.

2. Consolidation (long term) - when the brain creates a narrative and shapes them in a way to try to make sense of them, and understand how it relates to what you know.

Consolidation is one of the main reasons why effortful learning matters.

Why Effortful Learning Matters

It’s retrieval from memory, not review, that deepens learning and makes it stick.

Difficulties that resemble real-world conditions, and require effort to overcome, deepen learning and improve later performance.

Many strategies that feel productive, like rereading and massed practice, are labor in vain.

How to retrieve knowledge

Retrieval is crucial for learning. In order to really learn, we must retrieve. And when done with effort, retrieval makes consolidation stronger, and causes re-consolidation. Several ways to do this include:

• Using quizzes

• Re-reading and highlighting barely work

• Searching for the answer in our brains

• Putting new knowledge alongside other known knowledge

• Making mistakes and correcting them

When it’s hard to retrieve knowledge from memory, we think that’s a sign we’re not getting it. The truth is — the effort that you’re expending to retrieve it from memory is exactly what it takes to get it, master it, build depth, and then begin to build mental models to fit this knowledge in with other things that are related… The knowledge will come to the fore when you need them to.

The more effort you have to put in to retrieve the idea, the more effective the practice. The more likely you will be able to remember it at a future time. The harder it is, the better. As long as you are successful at it, you don’t have to relearn it.

Here are also some tips to enhance your learning skills to make new knowledge stick:

• Chunking is great for retention: Chunk down/chunk up information to make it easier to remember>

• Stimulate neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons in the hippocampus, with proper diet, supplements, and food

• Choose growth mindset over fixed mindset

  • Growth mindset: I can constantly learn and improve.

  • Fixed Mindset: My intellectual abilities are fixed and I cannot learn or improve.

• Make use of mnemonic devices

  • An example is going to your “Memory Palace,” which is explained in detail in this video summary of the book “Moonwalking With Einstein” by international memory champion Joshua Foer.

4 practical steps to learn better

There is no learning without action. Here are some actionable advice from Peter Brown:

1. Try to solve a problem before you’re taught how. Search your mind, and when you’re finally taught the solution, even if you’ve made mistakes trying to solve it yourself, you’ll learn it better and you remember it better.

2. Start with a question, read for the answer. When you’re picking up a book or an article, ask yourself: what’s the question I want to answer? You’re looking for those gems that you want to grab on to. You might be surprised and learn something that you weren’t expecting, but this enables you as you read.

3. Do something with the new knowledge when you get it. Extract the key ideas. Put them in your own words. Explain to yourself or to your spouse or a friend or business colleague how they relate to what you’re doing, how they relate to what you already know. This form of engagement with that knowledge helps make it real and helps you possess it and deepen your grasp of it.

4. Quiz yourself. Retrieve this again later from time to time. Anything you want to hang on to, you must periodically retrieve from memory, and in that retrieval, you will strengthen your grip on the knowledge. You will update that knowledge and you will be in possession of the skill or the knowledge when you need it later.

Enjoyed learning more about the science of learning? Read more about (related article) or visit www.makeitstick.net to know more about the book.