Do you tell students to highlight or underline material in order to learn it better? Do you provide them with keyword mnemonics to help with memory? Do you ask them to visualize concepts in order to better understand them? Do you have them summarize what they have learned?
In the article Improving Students’ Learning with Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions from Cognitive and Educational Psychology, published by the Association for Psychological Science, the authors point out that these commonly used techniques offer very low payback for students.
The paper looked at learning techniques that teachers teach students to do on their own to see which ones are useful strategies for learning, and which ones are just wastes of time.
A drawing of a left hand illustrating Fleming's left hand rule (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Which techniques are effective?
- Practice tests: when they self-test or take practice tests in order to learn and assess their laerning
- Distributed practice: when they spread out their study activities over time instead of cramming them all into one timeframe
- Elaborative interrogation: when they stop and ask themselves why a fact or concept is true
- Self-explanation: when they reflect on how new information Is related to what they already know, or when they explain the steps involved in solving a problem
- Interleaved practice: when they mix different kinds of problems within a study session
Note that three of the techniques involve practice. The very process of answering questions improves knowledge and retention. By distributing the practice over time, and by varying the content practiced (as opposed to block practice, where a particular skill is practiced repeatedly, and then the next skill, etc.), the practice time can be maximized to produce the most learning in the least amount of time.
The other two techniques involve reflection. While learning or reading, students reflect on how this material relates to what they already know or do, or they stop and ask themselves why the specific passage or content is true.
As we teach students to become self-directed learners. We should focus on these five techniques that are proven to work
Finally, there has been a lot of Cognitive Psychology research into the most effective ways to use practice to enhance memory and learning. Two young companies with products based on that research are Foundations in Learning in reading and Insight Learning in Math. These products are focused the most efficient ways, based on the most current research, to get students to proficiency and fluency.