Science of Learning - Program - CodePath.org

Overview

This guide is intended as a cliffnotes for the modern science of learning and memory and the latest research into the mechanics. The following are important notes about the science learning and memory:

  1. More information doesn’t mean more learning. The brain is equipped to tackle a pretty hefty load of information and sensory input, but there is a point at which the brain becomes overwhelmed, an effect scientists call cognitive overload. (Read More)
  2. The brain is a highly dynamic organ. The brain’s wiring can change at any age and it can grow new neurons and adapt to new situations, though the rate at which this happens does slow with age. (Read More)
  3. Emotion influences the ability to learn. The ability to learn, retain, and use information isn’t just based on our raw IQs. Over the past few decades it has become increasingly clear that how we feel and our overall emotional state can have a major impact on how well we can learn new things. (Read More)
  4. Mistakes are an essential part of learning. Failure is a dirty word in most aspects of modern American society, but when it comes to the science of learning, research shows that they’re essential. A recent study found that students performed better in school and felt more confident when they were told that failure was a normal part of learning, bolstering a growing body of research that suggests much of the same. (Read More)
  5. The brain needs novelty. Repetition may have its place in learning, but what the brain really craves is novelty. Researchers have found that novelty causes the dopamine system in the brain to become activated, sending the chemical throughout the brain. (Read More)
  6. There are no learning styles. What kind of learner are you? Chances are good that at some point during your educational career someone labeled you as a particular type of learner, either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. Students may have preferences for how they learn, but when put to the test, students were found to have equivalent levels of learning regardless of how information is presented.(Read More)
  7. Brains operate on the “use it or lose it” principle. Information in the brain that isn’t used is often lost, as neural pathways are weakened over time. Research has found that the brain generates more cells than it needs, with those that receive both chemical and electrical stimuli surviving and the rest dying off.(Read More)
  8. Learning is social. Research has found that from infancy on, people learn better through social cues, much more easily recalling and emulating the actions or words of another human. Aside from social cues, socialization has been shown to have other learning benefits. (Read More)
  9. Learning is best when innate abilities are capitalized on. Combining these innate abilities with structured practice, repetition, and training can help make new ideas and concepts “stick” and make more sense. (Read More)
  10. Learning can change brain structure. Brain cells fired up during both perception and action overlap in people, and lessons that engage both allow students to more easily identify with their teachers and to learn concepts more quickly, as their brain cells are getting twice the attention and workout. (Read More)

Six Key Strategies

Several major studies on learning such as the ones identified here identify six strategies that are clearly effective and in which there is “little debate among scholars”. These include:

  1. Pairing graphics with words. Young or old, all of us receive information through two primary pathways — auditory (for the spoken word) and visual (for the written word and graphic or pictorial representation). Student learning increases when teachers convey new material through both.
  2. Linking abstract concepts with concrete representations. Teachers should present tangible examples that illuminate overarching ideas and also explain how the examples and big ideas connect.
  3. Posing probing questions. Asking students “why,” “how,” “what if,” and “how do you know” requires them to clarify and link their knowledge of key ideas.
  4. Repeatedly alternating problems with their solutions provided and problems that students must solve.
    Explanations accompanying solved problems help students comprehend underlying principles, taking them beyond
    the mechanics of problem solving.
  5. Distributing practice over time. Students should practice material several times after learning it, with each practice or review separated by weeks and even months.
  6. Assessing to boost retention. Beyond the value of formative assessment (to help a teacher decide what to teach) and summative assessment (to determine what students have learned), assessments that require students to recall material help information “stick.”

Refer to this detailed report for more information.

Books

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