Dr. Megan Sumeracki Dr. Yana Weinstein
We are two cognitive psychologists who do applied research in education.
Yana first got hooked on “false memory.”
Yana:
False memory is something I learned about in my first undergraduate research methods class: the idea that we sometimes remember things that did not occur, or differently to how they really occurred. I got stuck on the idea that surely there is an objectively “true” memory somewhere in our minds that we distinguish from this “false” memory. My dream was that you could take a person who claimed to have a particular memory, do some clever science on them, and come back with a “TRUE!” or “FALSE!” indicator for that particular memory. What can I say – I was young and naïve. I tried to research this in my PhD, but realized too late that it was, in fact, more or less impossible to distinguish between true and false memories with a cognitive task. I then went on to join Henry (Roddy) Roediger’s lab, where I learned all about how to apply memory research to education. Now my passion has shifted over to figuring out the best way for students to learn, based on advances in cognitive psychology and our understanding of how the mind processes and remembers information.
Megan got into cognitive research as an undergraduate student because she was interested in education.
Megan:
By the beginning of my junior year in college I was getting ready to apply for the research-focused honors program at Purdue University, and had started subbing K-12 on days when I didn’t have classes – I went to great lengths to block them off so that I would have two full days off at a time. I loved being in the classroom and working with students, and I loved issues related to education. I applied to conduct my honors thesis in Jeff Karpicke’s Learning Lab (http://learninglab.psych.purdue.edu/people/karpicke/), where I started conducting my own applied research on learning. I fell in love with the research, and continued to pursue training in cognitive psychology and applications to education. I had found my passion, and wanted to have a role in changing education.
Yana:
My research interests lie in improving the accuracy of memory performance and the judgments students make about their cognitive functions. I try to pose questions that have direct applied relevance, such as: How can we help students choose optimal study strategies? Why are test scores sometimes so surprising to students? And how does retrieval practice help students learn?
Megan:
My area of expertise is in human learning and memory, and applying the science of learning in educational contexts. My research program focuses on retrieval-based learning strategies, and the way activities promoting retrieval can improve meaningful learning in the classroom. I address empirical questions such as: What retrieval practice formats promote student learning? What retrieval practice activities work well for different types of learners? And, why does retrieval increase learning?
We are writing this book to continue the conversation about evidence-based learning strategies that we started on our website and blog, learningscientists.org, and our Twitter account, @AceThatTest. When we started the Learning Scientists, it was because we wanted to make the cognitive psychology research on learning more accessible, to increase its ability to have real positive impacts for students around the world. Essentially, we have aimed to break out of the typical walls of academic research and talk about research and education with many relevant parties, and not just our fellow researchers.
Yana:
One night in January 2016, I was feeling guilty about not doing enough to disseminate my research on learning to students — so I decided to see what I could do on Twitter. I searched “test tomorrow” and realized that many students tweet about how unprepared they feel for their upcoming exams or about how they can’t concentrate enough to study. I began tweeting advice at these students.
Megan:
At the same time, I had started a new professional Twitter account and was trying to create an assignment for my students in cognitive psychology where they would find articles and tweet them. The assignment was a slight disaster, but in the process, Yana and I connected again (we had crossed over at Washington University in St. Louis, but had not worked together directly), and I saw what she was doing and started joining in. And then I realized if my account was flooded with all of this stuff, my students were going to get confused, so I suggested that maybe we should start our own Twitter handle just for this. That’s when the Learning Scientists Twitter account (@AceThatTest) was born. At the time of writing, we now have over 10,000 followers, and the project has grown to so much more than just a Twitter account. We have a thriving blog, multiple funded research and science communication projects, a podcast, and now this book.
We’re passionate about education and giving people tools to study and teach more effectively.
Apply it to their own lives – after all, everyone is trying to learn something!