Sharing Good Practice

BY: KATE JONES

The Learning Scientists

If you haven’ t visited the website LearningScientists. org, then I strongly urge you to do so. This is a fantastic website, filled with research informed articles, blogs, videos and resources that are suitable for teachers, students and parents. The Learning Scientists are a team of Cognitive Psychologists based in America and other parts of the world, that all share in common, their interest in research linked to education and how students learn. Their vision is to make scientific research on learning, more accessible to students, teachers, and other educators. They aim to motivate students to study, increase the use of effective study and teaching strategies that are backed by research and also, decrease the commonly held negative views of testing – showing that testing doesn’ t need to just be a measuring tool but can also be a tool to support learning. On their website the Learning Scientists focus on six strategies for effective learning which are:

1. Spaced practice: This strategy focuses on spreading out revision over a longer period of time.

2. Retrieval practice: This involves recalling information from memory.

4. Interleaving: Switching between ideas whilst studying.

5. Concrete examples: Using specific examples to understand abstract ideas.

6. Dual Coding: This involves combining words and visuals.

All of the resources on their website are free and will provide a great source of support and inspiration for both teachers and students!