Researchers have made significant advances in applying cognitive processes to education (see Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan, & Willingham [2013] and Weinstein, Madan, & Sumeracki [2018] for reviews).
Researchers have made significant advances in applying cognitive processes to education.
From this work, recommendations can be made for students to maximize their learning efficiency (Pashler et al., 2007). Specifically, six key learning strategies from cognitive research have been consistently found to be effective, and can be broadly applied to education (see Table on the next page).
However, a recent report from the US (Pomerance, Greenberg, & Walsh, 2016) as well as ongoing follow-up studies from Europe (Surma, Vanhoyweghen, Camp, & Kirschner, in prep) found that few teacher-training textbooks and courses cover these principles, and current study-skills courses also lack coverage of these important learning strategies (see Chapter 1).
However, few teachers encounter effective learning strategies from cognitive psychology in their training.
Students are therefore missing out on mastering techniques that they could use on their own to learn effectively. Thus, we’ve dedicated the rest of this book to unpacking each of these strategies, and providing the reader with tips on how to use them.
Each of the six strategies we discuss has received decades of support from cognitive psychology.
|
Learning Strategy |
Description |
Application Examples (using childhood development from Introduction to Psychology) |
|
Spaced practice (Ch 8) |
Creating a study schedule that spreads study activities out over time. |
Students can block off time to study and restudy key concepts such as attachment styles and developmental milestones on multiple days before an exam, rather than repeatedly studying these concepts right before the exam. |
|
Interleaving (Ch 8) |
Switching between topics while studying. |
After studying emotional development, students can switch to cognitive development and then to social development; next time, students can study the three in a different order, noting what new connections they can make between them. |
|
Elaboration (Ch 9) |
Asking and explaining why and how things work. |
Students can explain how and why our memory changes across the lifespan: why don’t we remember many things from when we were under five? How does our ability to remember change as we get older? |
|
Concrete examples (Ch 9) |
When studying abstract concepts, illustrating them with specific examples. |
Students can imagine the following example to explain childhood amnesia: Two siblings, aged nine and four, go to Disney World. Ten years later, the nine-year-old remembers this trip, whereas the four-year-old does not. |
|
Dual coding (Ch 9) |
Combining words with visuals. |
Students can sketch the different phases in an attachment styles study, e.g., for secure attachment style: (1) mother in room with baby, who is exploring toys; (2) mother leaves, baby is a bit upset but not inconsolable; (3) mother is back and baby happily hugs mother. |
|
Retrieval practice (Ch 10) |
Bringing learned information to mind from long-term memory. |
When studying attachment styles, students can practice writing out from memory the description of a child’s behavior as described by each style. |
We have organized the six strategies into three chapters to follow how a student might approach studying: planning when to study (Chapter 8), developing understanding (Chapter 9), and reinforcing knowledge (Chapter 10).
Each of the six strategies we discuss has received decades of support from cognitive psychology (Dunlosky et al., 2013; Pashler et al., 2007; Weinstein et al., 2018), though two of them have received the most: spacing, and retrieval practice.
Spacing involves distributing studying over time (Benjamin & Tullis, 2010) rather than cramming studying before an exam, which is the more common behavior among students (Weinstein, Lawrence, Tran, & Frye, 2013).
Spaced practice
Retrieval practice involves bringing information to mind from memory, which is a technique that is much more effective at promoting long-term learning than the more common technique of re-reading class materials (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). While students do sometimes test themselves, it is usually to check their knowledge rather than to produce learning (Karpicke, Butler, & Roediger, 2009).
Retrieval practice
Since these two strategies have received the most support from the cognitive literature, we dedicate separate chapters to each of them (Chapter 8 on Planning and Chapter 10 on Reinforcement).
The remaining four strategies - interleaving, elaboration, concrete examples, and dual coding – can be used to support spaced practice and retrieval practice.
Interleaving
Interleaving involves switching between ideas or types of problems (e.g., in math and physics), rather than studying one idea or type of problem for too long; this encourages better discrimination between ideas and procedures (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). We’ve included this strategy in the chapter on Planning (Chapter 8).
Elaboration – specifically, elaborative interrogation – involves students asking (and attempting to answer) “how” and “why” questions (Pressley, McDaniel, Turnure, Wood, & Ahmad, 1987).
Elaboration
Concrete examples help students grasp abstract ideas (Paivio, 1971).
Concrete examples
Dual coding
Finally, dual coding combines words and visuals, giving students two pathways by which to retrieve information later (Paivio, 2007).
Those last three strategies help to develop understanding, so we’ve written about them all together in Chapter 9. Whether you are a teacher, a student, a parent, or simply interested in learning – we hope you’ll find a new strategy to try out.
Benjamin, A. S., & Tullis, J. (2010). What makes distributed practice effective? Cognitive Psychology, 61, 228–247.
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14, 4–58.
Karpicke, J. D., Butler, A. C., & Roediger, H. L. (2009). Metacognitive strategies in student learning: Do students practise retrieval when they study on their own? Memory, 17, 471–479.
Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Paivio, A. (2007). Mind and its evolution: A dual coding theoretical approach. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Pashler, H., Bain, P. M., Bottge, B. A., Graesser, A., Koedinger, K., McDaniel, M., & Metcalfe, J., (2007). Organizing instruction and study to improve student learning: IES practice guide. Washington DC, USA: National Center for Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education.
Pomerance, L., Greenberg, J., & Walsh, K. (2016, January). Learning about learning: What every teacher needs to know. Retrieved from www.nctq.org/dmsView/Learning_About_Learning_Report
Pressley, M., McDaniel, M. A., Turnure, J. E., Wood, E., & Ahmad, M. (1987). Generation and precision of elaboration: Effects on intentional and incidental learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13, 291–300.
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17, 249–255.
Surma, T., Vanhoyweghen, K., Camp, K., & Kirschner (in prep). Distributed practice and retrieval practice: The coverage of learning strategies in Flemish and Dutch teacher education textbooks.
Taylor, K., & Rohrer, D. (2010). The effects of interleaved practice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 837–848.
Weinstein, Y., Madan, C. R., & Sumeracki, M. A. (2018). Teaching the science of learning. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 3(2), 1–17.
Weinstein, Y., Lawrence, J. S., Tran, N., & Frye, A. A. (2013, November). How and how much do student study? Tracking study habits with the diary method. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Toronto, Canada.