Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 3 | Page 42

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 3 Book Review: Make it Stick – The Science of Successful Learning Book by: Peter Brown, Henry Roediger III and Mark McDaniel Reviewed by: Mark Scott, UK Coaching “People generally are going about learning in the wrong ways.” The opening statement in this book hits home, especially if you are involved in any form of learning, teaching or coaching. As the principal investigator of a collaborative group of 11 researchers tasked in 2002 with applying principles of cognitive psychology to educational practice, Roediger has plenty of evidence to back up this claim. Roediger and colleagues go on to suggest that this is because the strategies that research has shown to be evidence-based do not seem intuitive to us 42 as effective methods of learning. Methods such as retrieval practice (testing yourself) seem difficult, which makes people think they are not learning. This leads to people using techniques they find easy, such as re-reading notes. This seems to be intuitively better for learning (it’s not!). Make it Stick is the result of the researchers’ programme of research beginning in 2002 as well as research findings from the last 100 years, and suggests the main evidence-based strategies that have consistently shown to help us learn and remember. The three strategies that the authors’ research consistently shows to enhance learning are