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What are the learning sciences?
What are the learning sciences?
The learning sciences refer to a body of research focused on how the learning environment, instructional design, teaching practice and learner characteristics — particularly their cognition, motivation and behavior — come together to shape the learning experience in different contexts. In other words, the learning sciences describe how we learn and how our learning is affected by the world around us, including our relationships, environment and resources.
Strategies of Learning Sciences
Strategies of Learning Sciences
Retrieval practice. Intentionally practice remembering what you learn. You can’t apply without knowing and understanding. A summative analysis of over 200 experiments conducted across 70 years says retrieval practice, i.e. when you force yourself to remember — whether it’s a quiz, a flashcard, or a game — you are more likely to remember and learn the content than if you were to flip through your notes a few times. This means when your partner quizzes you about their birthday, they are actually helping you learn and remember it.
Concept mapping. Our brains don’t store information like an analog library with lines of books in a row. Our brains are more like digital databases that cross-tag pieces of information. Concept maps are pictorial representations of how your brain cross-tags your knowledge. For a concept map to be especially effective for learning, it does two things.
First, it connects related concepts with arrows and second, it outlines how they are connected. It is hard. Learning takes effort. A summative analysis of over 140 comparisons of learning performance of students who either studied a concept map or made their own and students who did not concept map (and usually reread content) suggests — you guessed it — students who engaged in concept mapping are more likely to learn better.
Elaboration. Why? How? What does that look like? My absolute favorite thing to do is ask questions and then think about the answer. (Fine, I out myself as a nerd). Elaboration is another strategy that builds upon the idea that our brain cross-tags concepts and facts. The more relevant details you can attach to a concept, the more you help yourself remember the content.
Imagine every detail you know to be a hashtag. For example, when you read “animals,” were you able to conjure up several types of animals and examples of animals? I bet you did. All those words were cross-tagged with this one word — animal. The more you elaborate (the more hashtags you attach to concepts, if you will), the more likely you will be able to remember and apply the information in a variety of ways.
Spaced practice. Did you know that retrieval practice (and other learning strategies) are likely going to be more powerful when you give yourself time to forget a little before you learn again? This little timing trick is an evidence-based strategy called spaced practice. What spaced practice asks you to do is spread your learning over time. So if you plan to study a chapter with five key concepts, study one concept a day over five days instead of all five concepts in one day. This is true and helpful if your goal is to truly learn and remember, not if you just want to pass the test tomorrow morning. Just sayin'.
Learning Science Principles from The Learning Scientists
Learning Science Principles from The Learning Scientists
All-Color-Posters.pdfDual+Coding.pdfRetrieval+Practice.pdfConcrete+Examples.pdfInterleaving.pdfElaboration.pdfSpaced+Practice.pdf
- Spaced Practice - Space out your studying over time.
- Retrieval Practice - Practice brining information to mind without the help of materials
- Elaboration - Explain and describe ideas with many details
- Interleaving - Switch between ideas while you study
- Concrete Examples - Use specific examples to understand abstract ideas.
- Dual Coding - Combine words and visuals.
PODCAST - Why Care About the Learning Sciences?
PODCAST - Why Care About the Learning Sciences?
In this introduction to the ISTE podcast series Course of Mind (@courseofmind), hosts Zac Chase (@MrChase) and Shana White (@ShanaVWhite) talk to ISTE Chief Learning Officer Joseph South (@southjoseph) about what the learning sciences are and why educators should care. South acknowledges that teaching is a tall order. Educators are often dealing with 25-30 students in one class who come from different backgrounds, different cultural contexts, and have different beliefs and abilities. The learning sciences look at the whole child and offer an expanded toolbox to deal with a wider range of situations. This podcast series will cover the basic principles — or the big ideas — of the learning sciences and address key findings that have practical applications in the classroom.
PODCAST - Believe in Yourself and Your Students
PODCAST - Believe in Yourself and Your Students
In this installment of the ISTE podcast series Course of Mind (@courseofmind), hosts Zac Chase (@MrChase) and Shana White (@ShanaVWhite) talk to Dr. Ranjini Johnbull, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education and faculty lead for the Mind, Brain and Teaching program, about the importance of teachers believing in their own effectiveness and in the ability of their students to learn. These beliefs, which go beyond subject matter and teaching strategies, have a tremendous power to affect student outcomes. A teacher who believes in their ability to teach and believes that students can achieve results lays the groundwork for successful learning. Teachers can support students by understanding their cultural context and ensuring they feel safe in the classroom, both socially and physically.
In this installment of the ISTE podcast series Course of Mind (@courseofmind), hosts Zac Chase (@MrChase) and Shana White (@ShanaVWhite) talk to Dr. Ranjini Johnbull, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education and faculty lead for the Mind, Brain and Teaching program, about how teachers can keep cultural differences and implicit biases from becoming walls between them and their students. Ranjini and hosts discuss how social bonding and a strong connection between teachers and students improves outcomes, especially at the middle and high school levels. Also included are discussions of ways in which educators can reach out to students on the fringes, build a culture of inclusiveness and create bridges to reach disruptive students.
As educators, we teach the students we believe they are. But if we don’t know who we are as teachers, how do we know who our students are? Dr. Vanessa Rodriguez, co-author of the book “The Teaching Brain,” talks about how teachers can become better educators by being more keenly aware of how their personal beliefs and traits affect how they see students and approach the learning process. If teachers are never taught to explore those lenses, they are missing who their students truly are. By understanding three sides of themselves -- private, public and perceived - teachers can build relationships that help students thrive. Vanessa reminds us that teachers are learners too and cautions that the education community’s focus on student-centered learning ignores crucial components of the learning process - that learning is an interaction.
PODCAST - What Makes Learning Happen?
PODCAST - What Makes Learning Happen?
How do humans learn? How does technology help understanding how the brain works? Dr.Bror Saxberg, an engineering doctorate, a medical doctor, and Vice President of Learning Sciences at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative explains how human learning works and identifies common roadblocks that teachers encounter. Unsurprisingly, learning is a complex process that involves not just academic skills but a person’s entirety including their social, emotional, physical and mental health. Even sleep, hydration and hunger play a role in students’ ability to learn. Despite the complexity, Bror offers ideas that teachers can use in their classrooms to identify what’s holding students back and come up with strategies to overcome barriers.
In this bite-size research episode, Megan describes a paper by Dr. Jennifer McCabe (2011) investigating whether students understand what learning strategies are most effective, and whether we can teach this to students.
PODCAST - Power Learning with Retrieval Practice
PODCAST - Power Learning with Retrieval Practice
Forgetting what you were taught a week ago isn’t a shortcoming; it’s just part of being human. The inability to recall information may say more about teaching methods than your intellectual capacity. To help students really learn takes an understanding of how the brain works. Something as simple as changing the way a teacher asks questions can help ensure that learning is taking place. That’s the message of Dr. Pooja Agarwal, a cognitive scientist and former K-12 teacher, who has long sought to bridge the gap between the learning sciences and the classroom. In this episode of Course of Mind, she presents what scientists know about learning and how teachers can put it to use.
In this bite-size research episode, Althea describes a study about how attention affects learning with retrieval practice when students are studying on their own by Neil Mulligan and Milton Picklesimer (2016).
Generally, they found students tend to forget after a delay, but retrieval practice improves memory after a delay. It is better not to be distracted (divided attention) when rereading. However, the students’ learning was not as affected by divided attention when they practiced retrieval. Retrieval practice seems to be a particularly resilient strategy!
Today's episode is specifically for students. Our goal was to take what we know about the science of learning and focus on how it can be used by you - students - to increase how much you're learning and improve your performance on tests, exams, and other types of assessments. We hope that this episode will be applicable to a range of students, regardless of age and specific subject(s) being studied.
The two most important study strategies are spaced practice and retrieval practice. They have the most evidence for their effectiveness, and are the most broadly applicable across a huge variety of different skills and subjects.
PODCAST - Learning First, Technology Second
PODCAST - Learning First, Technology Second
When it comes to learning, technology isn’t always an enhancement. Static images can sometimes be better than video, and Powerpoint presentations can often be a hindrance. It is about how we use the technology. Not even the most cutting-edge technology can help students learn if it’s not used correctly. The principles of how people retain information remain constant whether the information is coming from a textbook or virtual reality. In this installment of Course of Mind, Dr. Cris Castro from the Center for Advanced Research in Education at the Universidad de Chile talks about learning research that offers guidelines for how to use multimedia technology in the classroom. Cris stresses the importance of applying learning science principles while using technology as well as having a firm grasp on students’ knowledge and what they need to learn.
In this final episode of Season 1, Course of Mind unearths a question to ponder - What if the best use of technology in the classroom is to make education more human? In this second part of conversation with Dr. Bror Saxberg, Vice President of Learning Sciences at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Course of Mind podcast looks at the future of technology and education. Yes, advances in technology will no doubt deliver highly tailored learning for each student. But for Saxberg, the most exciting prospect is using technology to free up teachers to spend more time with students. Teachers could then focus on building a stress-free environment that's most conducive to learning. Saxberg also says technology could give teachers a holistic picture of how a class is faring. Finally, Saxberg sees technology helping teachers to find evidence-based solutions for their toughest learning problems.
Suggested Books:
Suggested Books:
We learn from the moment we are born. How can we learn more effectively? This is the question that educator hosts Zac Chase (@MrChase) and Shana White (@ShanaVWhite) brainstorm with leading experts in the learning sciences to try answer in the 'Course of Mind', the new podcast from the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE). In each episode, the hosts explore how the science of learning can shape the art of teaching for the whole child – with and without technology. Learn with us as we learn about what the learning sciences are and imagine the ways to make teaching and learning more efficient and effective, for all learners.
Tell us what you learned! Tweet us @courseofmindThis podcast is produced by NarayanKripa Sundararajan (@KripaSundar) as part of the Course of Mind project, an ISTE (@iste) initiative made possible in part by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative DAF, an advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Material from ISTE Course of Mind published here with permission from ISTE and NarayanKripa Sundararajan.
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