Notetaking Formats
As with any of the formats above, the key to making combination notes is recognizing what type of information needs to be recorded/learned and choosing the appropriate format, while making sure it’s in a format that you can practice spaced retrieval with. I really like using these different formats because they are already set up to…
Spaced Practice and Working Memory
If you need another reason to love spaced practice, Ouhao Chen and colleagues (1) provide yet another one. They conducted two experiments to investigate the relationship between spaced practice and working memory depletion. First, I’ll provide a primer on working memory and resource depletion, and then I’ll describe the experiments and results.Working memory is the…
Digest #172: Mnemonic Devices
By Carolina Kuepper-TetzelOur memory capabilities are fascinating and with some tricks we can expand our memory performance quite significantly. These tricks are called mnemonic devices. Mnemonic devices let us organize, elaborate, and visualize information so that we can retrieve that information easier in the future. Mnemonic devices are best applied to learning lists of concepts…
Digest #171: Resources for Calendars and Scheduling
By Althea Need Kaminske(cover image by MabelAmber on Pixabay)Time management can be a challenge for learners at all levels. Generally, the farther along you are in your educational journey, the less your time is managed for you. You are given more independence and autonomy to set your own priorities and manage your own time -…
Pitting Learning Styles Against Dual Coding
By Megan SumerackiWhen creating content and materials for the Learning Scientists website, we try to include many different types of forms (NOT because of Learning Styles, but because of preferences, and diversity in the type of media an individual can consume!). To that end, I’ve created blog versions of some bite-size research podcast episodes in…
Mary Whiton Calkins
by Althea Need KaminskeIn the past month I’ve been thinking a lot about history. I was tasked with writing a brief overview of cognitive psychology for a book I’m writing with Megan, and someone wrote into the Learning Scientists interested in the history of learning and asking for some places to start. I was not…
Digest #170: Fun Activities to Reduce Forgetting (and Boredom) over the School Break
The time between the end of a school year and the start of a new one can feel long and from a memory perspective considerable forgetting occurs. Engaging children and young people with different activities can help to counteract forgetting and boredom. In today’s digest, we highlight different activities and free resources. 1. Primary games &…
Announcing Our New “Ace That Test” Book!! And Other Books We Enjoy (Digest #169)
We have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Our newest book, Ace That Test: A Student’s Guide To Better Learning is coming out this summer—July 19 to be exact. You can preorder through Amazon now! Starting June 28, you can preorder through the Routledge link on our website. You can read Chapter 1 for free here!We are SUPER…
The Effect of Supervision and Instruction on Students’ Use of Retrieval Practice
By Carolina Kuepper-TetzelWhile there is clear evidence for the benefits of using retrieval practice as a learning strategy (1), we also know that students may not necessarily chose to use retrieval practice when studying on their own (2). A very recent experiment (3) investigated study choices in university students who were tasked with learning English-Swahili…
The Benefits of Retrieval with Medical Residents
With the constant advances in the medicine, medical training is continual and unabating. To start with, after spending typically four years earning a bachelor’s degree, medical professionals then typically spend four years in medical school, three to seven years in residency, and possibly a few years in fellowship. Then, relatively less formal education continues as…
