We’ve listed our top five recent Tes teaching and learning articles on the science of learning.
Why you’re probably wrong about the science of learning
The science of learning (SoL) has become embroiled in an ideological argument that has little to do with the reality of what it can and cannot do for teaching, argues neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath, in this article from May 2024.
The problem, Cooney Horvath explains, is that “researchers across the science of learning rarely speak of ‘what works’ (pedagogy). Rather, most researchers confine their discussions to ‘why things work as they do’ (mechanism)”.
This distinction is not always well understood, Cooney Horvath argues, either by “traditional” educators, who “employ SoL as a source of evidence for their arguments”, or by “progressive” educators, who wrongly reject it as being completely at odds with their ideas about classroom practice.
Read the article here.
David Geary: Why learning is hard - and how to make it easier
David Geary developed the theory of primary and secondary knowledge that underpins popular “science of learning” ideas such as cognitive load theory, but is there any evidence for it? Could it be just another fad?
Geary is a University of Missouri professor of evolutionary psychology and cognitive scientist. In this deep-dive interview from September 2024, Holly Korbey speaks to him about his work - and how others are using it.
Korbey asks whether the theory of primary/secondary knowledge is testable, whether schools can use the theory to improve learning, and why so many would prefer children to learn chemistry in the same way that they learn language.
Read the article here.
The error code: can embracing mistakes really boost outcomes?
Research suggests that letting children fail - or even making them do so - can improve learning. But does that work in the classroom? David Robson finds out in this feature from October 2024.
“Studies have found that students learn best when they make lots of mistakes, with benefits including improved understanding and long-term recall,” Robson writes. “That’s dependent, though, on teachers knowing how to provide the most constructive form of feedback.”
What does that type of feedback involve? In the article, Robson explores that question in detail.
Read the article here.
Working memory: education’s unfinished revolution
Researchers say that understanding the concept of working memory is crucial for educators. But to make a difference in schools, better training, screening, assessments and curricular design are needed, finds Holly Korbey in this feature from October 2024.
“Experts have said that an understanding of working memory is among the ‘most important things teachers should know’ to be effective in classrooms,” writes Korbey. “Professor Dylan Wiliam has said that the fact that humans possess a limited short-term memory should guide ‘the whole of education’.”
And yet, she adds, it is not clear “how many teachers have a solid understanding of the mind’s memory system and how it applies to learning” and whether that understanding is being effectively translated into classroom practice.
Read the article here.
‘Mechanistic’ metacognition: the key to student agency?
If we want students to take control of their learning, we first need to implement mechanistic metacognition so that they understand how best to learn, argues Jared Cooney Horvath in this article from November 2024.
He explains how “ensuring that students have the opportunity for choice and are well-versed in effective learning strategies” is important for independent learning.
However, this alone is not sufficient. What students need is a concept he has termed “mechanistic metacognition” - a deeper understanding of why each learning strategy has the impact that it does.
Without this, Cooney Horvath argues, “students will either blindly follow explicit instructions or make decisions based on personal intuition (which is rarely well-aligned with effective learning)”.
Read the article here.
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