Science of Teaching and Learning (STL)

The Science of Teaching and Learning (STL) is a verb, not a noun. It is an active, dynamic process. An ongoing application of what we know about how the brain learns to the complex, ever-changing reality of the classroom. STL was intentionally designed as an area of synthesis, where teachers and researchers share authority and engage in meaningful translation work. That translation moves in two directions: research informing practice, and classroom practice informing research.

This website is not meant to capture the full depth of the STL field. Instead, it serves as a starting point. A collection of research-informed, concrete tools that teachers can implement immediately. It is designed by teachers, for teachers.

David Daniel, a psychology professor and founding leader in Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE/STL), uses a powerful cooking analogy to describe this field (D. Daniel, personal communication, June 22, 2020). Teachers, he explains, are meant to be chefs, not servers. Chefs need three things:

1. High-quality ingredients

2. The right tools

3. An understanding of sequence—the order and process that brings everything together
   
   

When educators first enter the profession, they often rely on a “cookbook,” drawing on others’ experience to guide their instruction. But as teachers grow and refine their craft, they begin to create their own “secret sauce.” They learn to experiment, adjust, and discover the nuanced combinations that produce powerful learning outcomes.

STL supports this evolution. It helps teachers identify the highest-quality ingredients (such as metacognition, effective feedback, analogy, and memory strategies). It clarifies the role of sequence, starting with student questions to drive curiosity and motivation. And it offers the right tools, including explicit study strategies like retrieval practice and spaced learning.

In essence, STL equips teachers with the ingredients, sequences, and tools necessary to design the “secret sauce” of efficient, effective learning for all students. It honors the expertise of teachers and empowers them to continue refining their craft through evidence-informed decision-making.

The goal of STL is not to chase a single “best” approach, but to cultivate a culture of instructional practices that are grounded in the science of learning and informed by both classroom experience and evidence. A key distinction is that our work is research-informed, not strictly research-based. Research can sometimes mislead when taken out of context, so teachers must remain flexible — using research as a guide, not as a rigid prescription.

At its core, the field of STL seeks to build evidence-generating classrooms, empowering teachers to become action researchers. Teachers are the experts in their own classrooms, and they should feel encouraged to try new strategies, study their impact, and make decisions based on what the science of learning tells us and what their students show them every day.

When we think about a typical lesson, most teachers spend the majority of instructional time on encoding, putting new information into students’ brains. But the science of learning tells us that durable learning actually happens when we require students to pull information out of their brains (retrieval) or when we help them store information by connecting it to themselves, their prior knowledge, or meaningful contexts. 

Reflect on your own practice:

• How much time do I spend having students encode new information?

• How often do I intentionally help students store information by making connections?

• How frequently do I require students to retrieve what they have learned?
  
  

Many educators discover that they devote substantial time to encoding and far less to retrieval—even though retrieval is what strengthens memory, deepens understanding, and makes learning usable.

Is it time to shift the lift? Increasing retrieval opportunities may be the key to helping students build stronger, more durable learning that lasts.