How to learn and remember knowledge @ Wilmslow High School

How does knowledge make it easier to learn? Students with a rich base of knowledge find it easier to learn more Daniel Willingham, How Knowledge Helps

How we make sense of knowledge 1. Encoding How we make sense of knowledge

Organising Knowledge Students who organise knowledge into a mental model show an advantage in learning Brown et al. Make it Stick

Homework task for Year 8 and 9 These two days are all about how you develop Complete Learning You will be learning two pieces of knowledge today on key historical figures and authors, and on Tim Peake You will be tested on Wednesday to see how much of this you can remember

Self Explanation Explaining knowledge in your own words

Elaborative Interrogation Giving knowledge meaning by connecting it to what you already know

Explanation of elaborative interrogation https://youtu.be/gQRzW24KrDc

How we store knowledge in our long term memory 2. Storage How we store knowledge in our long term memory

The Illusion of Fluency The mistake that because knowledge is easy to remember now, it will remain that way

Practice Memory requires ongoing practice Daniel Willingham, Practice makes perfect

Re-learning Students should practice until knowledge is correctly recalled once... ...and have three relearning sessions Rawson and Dunlosky When is practice testing most effective?

Over-learning Over-learn by 20% to avoid the illusion of fluency

How we retrieve knowledge from our long term memory 3. Retrieval How we retrieve knowledge from our long term memory

Regular retrieval strengthens recall As I retrieve something it becomes more accessible, stronger, more recallable. Robert Bjork Find out more

The Spacing Effect Find out more We have known about the Spacing Effect since 1885 and it is one of the most reliable findings in research on human learning

The Spacing Effect Spaced learning Knowledge is studied a few times spaced over a long span of time Massed learning (Cramming) Repeated study over a short span of time

What is wrong with massed practice? Massed practice creates the illusion of fluency It leads you to believe that you know information better than you actually do

Explanation of spacing https://youtu.be/3WJYp98eys8

Plan your revision scientifically In general, the best spacing gap is 10% - 20% of the test delay For a test in 10 months time, space your revision every 1-2 months Find out more

Interleave topics https://youtu.be/kV64Bu6sec0

The Testing Effect Find out more

Study versus testing Research by Roediger and Karpicke Study Test

Testing and Quizzing Short, frequent exams are most effective, especially when with receive feedback on the correct answers What works, what doesn’t (no. 1 method)

The size of the testing effect increases with the number of tests done When is practice testing most effective? Repeated tests followed by spaced restudy  Feedback on mistakes Retrieval from long-term memory rather than recognition-based tests (e.g. multiple- choice questions) 

Why is it worth doing group retrieval? Re-exposure This re-exposes you to knowledge you might not have remembered yourself Cross-cuing The knowledge that others recall might trigger extra recall for you

What doesn’t work very well

Highlighting Highlighting creates the illusion of fluency Find out more

Re-reading work Re-reading work creates the illusion of fluency. Generating knowledge is more memorable than reading it. Find out more

Cramming Cramming for just a few days before the exam leads to higher scores on immediate tests... ... but results in faster forgetting than spaced learning. This makes it particularly dangerous for mock exams. Find out more on why cramming doesn’t work

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