The use of cognitive science in the classroom.
"Applied cognitive science is the basis behind some of the policies we increasingly see used in schools."
Alastair Gittner, Sheffield Associate Research School lead.
In the summer the Education Endowment Foundation published a comprehensive review on the research literature on the application of cognitive science in teaching and learning. They reviewed 1000s of papers but applied a systematic review process that restricted the final list to include only papers that were looking at research applied in the classroom.
Applied cognitive science is the basis behind some of the policies we increasingly see used in schools. Retrieval practice, spaced practise, interleaving, managing cognitive load and some aspects of Rosenshine’s principles are based on what we understand about learning from cognitive science.
The main findings of the research review were:
· The evidence behind the application of cognitive science could be more robust
· There could be more studies, in more subjects and across more ages
· Some of the studies show mixed results for the effectiveness of these strategies
· Many of the approaches have a sound theoretical grounding
· However overall these strategies show promise and serve as good best bets when looking at ways of improving teaching and learning.
As the report states
“a lack of evidence is not the same as evidence that an approach is not successful”
The seven approaches for which there is promising evidence of effectiveness are:
3. Spaced learning
4. Interleaving
5. Working with schemas
6. Multimedia learning (including dual coding)
7. Embodied learning
Over coming weeks, we will be exploring each of these approaches in a series of blogs. These blogs are written with colleagues in our school in mind but will be of interest more widely. The first one is managing cognitive load.
Reference
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