Science of Learning
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:
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
Learning Strategies
Universal Design for Learning. The goal of UDL is to use a variety of teaching methods to remove any barriers to learning and give all students equal opportunities to succeed. It’s about building in flexibility that can be adjusted for every student’s strengths and needs.
Representation: UDL recommends offering information in more than one format. For example, Readme's are primarily visual. But providing text, audio, video and hands-on learning gives all learners a chance to access the material in whichever way is best suited to their learning strengths.
Action and expression: UDL suggests giving learners more than one way to interact with the material and to show what they’ve learned. For example, learners might get to choose between taking an assessment, presenting their project, submitting their repo.
Engagement: UDL encourages Instructors to look for multiple ways to motivate students. Letting learners make choices and giving them assignments that feel relevant to their lives are some examples of how learners can sustain students’ interest.
Chunking Learning. Chunking is a process in which information is broken down from a whole into smaller, discrete bits. Items that are “chunked” provide clues for memory and understanding.
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.
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.
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.
Learning 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:
Spacing
Retrieval Practice
Elaboration
Interleaving
Concrete Examples
Dual Coding
Refer to this detailed report for more information.
Resources
This online Free Course will provide the following
A helpful vocabulary to help describe what's happening when you have a gut feeling re: equity issues, and guidance for how to have conversations with others about it
A clear & concise framework that helps you take your values and put them into action
Immediately applicable, concrete steps about what to do differently in your job now
Guidance on where to start and what to actually do: combat analysis paralysis, excessive theory without action, and feelings of overwhelm/powerlessness
Self-reflection and opportunities for growth that will have a fast, positive, and perceptible impact on you and the things you do
equityXdesign skills that can stand-alone to help you with problem articulation, equitable "customer feedback", and/or effective solution-creation
Guidance on both Adaptive and Technical Problems that will push you to consider -- concretely -- your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors - in order that you can make better decisions about where to spend your time and energy
Last updated