Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

by Peter C. Brown

It’s better to attempt a solution and supply the incorrect answer than not to make the attempt.

The act of taking a few minutes to review what has been learned from an experience (or in a recent class) and asking yourself questions is known as reflection.

Reflection can involve several cognitive activities we have discussed that lead to stronger learning.

An interesting recent study specifically examined “write to learn” as a learning tool.

The kids who had been taught that errors are a natural part of learning showed significantly better use of working memory than did the others.

They view failure as a sign of effort and as a turn in the road rather than as a measure of inability and the end of the road.

Thomas Edison called failure the source of inspiration, and is said to have remarked, “I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

the discovery of what works and what doesn’t that sometimes only failure can reveal.

the process of trying to solve a problem without the benefit of having been taught how is called generative learning,

Her “learning style” might be called leap-before-you-look-because-if-you-look-first-you-probably-won’t-like-what-you-see.

For me, the risk of knowing what you’re getting into is that it becomes an overwhelming obstacle to getting started.”

Cognitive scientists know from empirical studies that testing, spacing, interleaving, variation, generation, and certain kinds of contextual interference lead to stronger learning and retention.

To be desirable, a difficulty must be something learners can overcome through increased effort.

Learning always builds on a store of prior knowledge.

your facility for calling up what you know depends on the repeated use of the information (to keep retrieval routes strong)

Interleaving and variation build new connections, expanding and more firmly entrenching knowledge in memory and increasing the number of cues for retrieval.

We gravitate to the narratives that best explain our emotions.

Hypothetical events that are imagined vividly can seat themselves in the mind as firmly as memories of actual events.

“the big lie” technique—even a big lie told repeatedly can come to be accepted as truth.

As you get more expert in complex areas, your models in those areas grow more complex, and the component steps that compose them fade into the background of memory (the curse of knowledge).

Incompetent people lack the skills to improve because they are unable to distinguish between incompetence and competence.

Most important is to make frequent use of testing and retrieval practice to verify what you really do know versus what you think you know.

Don’t make the mistake of dropping material from your testing regime once you’ve gotten it correct a couple of times.

And don’t put stock in momentary gains that result from massed practice.

Space your testing, vary your practice, keep...

Whether something feels familiar or fluent is not always a reliable indicator of learning.

It pays better to be a rainmaker than a manager: another lesson learned,

As the maxim goes, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

When instructional style matches the nature of the content, all learners learn better, regardless of their differing preferences for how the material is taught.

Analytical intelligence is our ability to complete problem-solving tasks such as those typically contained in tests;

creative intelligence is our ability to synthesize and apply existing knowledge and skills to deal with new and

practical intelligence is our ability to adapt to everyday life—to understand what needs to be done in a specific setting and the...

Dynamic testing has three steps. Step 1: a test of some kind—perhaps an experience or a paper exam—shows me where I come up short in knowledge or a skill. Step 2: I dedicate myself to becoming more competent, using reflection, practice, spacing, and the other techniques of effective learning. Step 3: I test myself again, paying attention to what works better now but also, and especially, to where I still need more work.

High structure-builders learn new material better than low structure-builders.

The theory of structure building may provide a clue as to why: that reflecting on what went right, what went wrong, and how might I do it differently next time helps me isolate key ideas, organize them into mental models, and apply them again in the future with an eye to improving and building on what I’ve learned.13

Knowhow is learning that enables you to go do.

Be the one in charge. There’s an old truism from sales school that says you can’t shoot a deer from the lodge. The same goes for learning: you have to suit up, get out the door, and find what you’re after.

Embrace the notion of successful intelligence.

Describe what you want to know, do, or accomplish. Then list the competencies required, what you need to learn, and where you can find the knowledge or skill. Then go get it.

Adopt active learning strategies like retrieval practice, spacing, and interleaving.

Don’t rely on what feels best: like a good pilot checking his instruments, use quizzing, peer review,

Don’t assume that you’re doing something wrong if the learning feels hard.

Distill the underlying principles; build the structure.

pause periodically and ask what the central ideas are, what the rules are.

Describe each idea and recall the related points. Which are the big ideas, and which are supporting concepts or nuances?

Structure is all around us and available to us through the poet’s medium of metaphor. A tree, with its roots, trunk, and branches. A river. A village, encompassing

By abstracting the underlying rules and piecing them into a structure, you go for more than knowledge. You go for knowhow.

Here are three: embracing a growth mindset, practicing like an expert, and constructing memory cues.

Growth Mindset Let’s return to the old saw “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

“Emphasizing effort gives a child a rare variable they can control,”