All in Learning Scientists Posts
About 8 years ago (seriously, I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for so long…), we published a pair of blog posts on understanding both near and far transfer (Part 1; Part 2). Transfer is one of my favorite topics, in part because it is arguably the whole point of most formal education. The purpose…
Imagine you are enrolled in a life sciences course and learning about stochastic molecular motion in biological systems (i.e., how molecules move in random ways within cells and other parts of living things). You are given the option to study the topic using either a) expository instruction…
It’s very clear that the average person does not have a great understanding of the broad field of psychology nor the interdisciplinary nature of the Science of Learning. What is the science of learning? How are we, four cognitive psychologists, involved in it? And when and how do you know if you can “trust” the science?
The great thing about effective learning strategies is that they tend to work well for a lot of different people, as long as they are modified in appropriate ways when needed. One individual difference between people that often comes up in learning research is developmental age or stage. Our …
There is a wide range in quality of educational videos that learners navigate. A range in quality of content, production, and relevance. Whether you’re a student watching lecture videos for class, watching videos as a supplement to your regular coursework, or a life-long learner who simply wants to learn more about the world (and tuberculosis), I want to talk about two strategies that can help you learn more from videos.
We have looked at the benefits of combining text and visuals for memory and learning – see dual coding – in many previous posts. A new series of experiments has investigated the effects of drawing specifically and whether drawing improves memory for the to-be-learned material compared to other strategies…
