Learning Scientists Blog — The Learning Scientists

Aug 4

Aug 4 Using Retrieval Practice to Learn Vocabulary in the Elementary School Classroom

Learning Scientists Posts, For Teachers, For Researchers

We were recently in England (June and July 2017) talking with teachers all over the country. One teacher at ResearchED Rugby asked us to write more about effective procedures for using retrieval practice (and other strategies) with younger children.

GUEST POST: Putting the Six Strategies for Effective Learning Into Practice – A Learning Project From a College-Level Learning and Memory Course

Aug 1

Aug 1 GUEST POST: Putting the Six Strategies for Effective Learning Into Practice – A Learning Project From a College-Level Learning and Memory Course

Learning Scientists

Guest Posts, For Teachers, For Researchers

“The key to be successful is studying and if you don’t know how to study, this project is the way to learn.” This sentence concluded one student’s Learning Project in my Learning and Memory this Spring. As an educator, that quote is what I live for – to know that students ...

Jul 30

Jul 30 Weekly Digest #70: Teachers’ Implementation of Spaced Practice

Learning Scientists

For Teachers, Digests

As regular readers of our website know, spaced practice is one of the go-to learning strategies from cognitive psychology – dating back to Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885. Spaced practice is simply the distribution of a set study time across several sessions instead of cramming it all into a single study session. Spacing out learning has been shown to be beneficial for...

Jul 28

Jul 28 The Cost of Task Switching: A Simple Yet Very Powerful Demonstration

Yana Weinstein

Learning Scientists Posts, For Teachers, For Researchers

As a cognitive psychologist, I think it’s important for students to understand how their attention works. But, unlike aspects principles of cognition that are easy to demonstrate, attention can be somewhat elusive. Perception can be demonstrated...

Jul 25

Jul 25 GUEST POST: How to Help Students Overcome Misconceptions

Learning Scientists

Guest Posts, For Teachers, For Researchers

As teachers, you and I want all of our students to come away from our classes learning accurate information. Unfortunately, misconceptions exist in every area of study, and teachers should not ignore them. Studies have consistently shown that if you do not ...

Jul 23

Jul 23 Weekly Digest #69: Behaviorism in the Classroom

Learning Scientists

For Teachers, For Parents, Digests

Some of the most prominent learning theories in the history of psychology stem from a behaviorist approach. Behaviorist theory is focused on ways to change observable behaviors. While we are trained as cognitive psychologists (and not behaviorists), ...