How People Learn – Principles & Impact on Student Learning

Four research-based principles from How People Learn (Goldman & Pellegrino, 2015), focusing on practical, student-centered strategies that K–12 teachers can apply across all subjects. The goal is to improve student engagement, retention, and mastery, especially for English Learners (ELs), in districts like San Bernardino City Unified School District.

Key Learning Principles & Best Practices

1. Activate Prior Knowledge & Cultural Backgrounds
   
   

   • Learning is deeper when students’ experiences, culture, and language are acknowledged.
     
     

   • Strategies: K-W-L charts, storytelling, culturally relevant content, bilingual support.
     
     

2. Organize Knowledge for Deep Understanding
   
   

Overview: The second principle of how people learn emphasizes that both the content and the organization of knowledge are critical for developing competence. Research shows that experts differ from novices not just in how much they know, but in how their knowledge is conceptually organized into meaningful patterns or schemas that support understanding, retrieval, and application. For students, organizing facts within conceptual frameworks enhances their ability to connect new information, ask meaningful questions, and apply prior knowledge to unfamiliar situations. 

2. • Students retain more when they see connections between concepts and real-life contexts.
     
     

   • Strategies: Utilize structures for note taking like interactive notebooks and guided notes, focus on big ideas, use concept maps and inquiry-based tasks.

Best Practices: 

• Encourage students to visually map out relationships between concepts, ideas, and facts, using visual organizers or concept maps, and routinely access them through the use of interactive notebooks.
  
  

• Present new information through overarching themes or essential questions, anchoring facts and skills to key concepts.
  
  

• Regularly have students summarize what they've learned, identify patterns, and connect new knowledge to prior learning. Activities like exit tickets, journals, or “concept check-ins” reinforce the organization of knowledge over time.

3. Promote Metacognition & Feedback for Learning

3. • Self-reflection and meaningful feedback boost learning and ownership.
     
     

   • Strategies: Formative assessments, goal setting, targeted feedback.
     
     

4. Foster Social Learning in a Supportive Community

4. • Students learn better in collaborative, inclusive environments.
     
     

   • Strategies: Cooperative learning (e.g., Think-Pair-Share), differentiation, inclusive classroom culture.