Understanding is remembering in disguise
At St Peters Lutheran College Springfield, our ‘why’ is to support every child to learn, every day. Of course, to be a successful student, it is useful to first understand how learning happens. Accordingly, at this week’s Secondary Assembly, our Years 7-12 students were introduced to Daniel Willingham’s simple memory model, which draws upon cognitive science to explain how learning happens. Willingham posits that learning is a change in long term memory (or, put more simply: “understanding is remembering in disguise”). To learn, one must pay attention, build schema by linking new procedural or declarative knowledge to prior knowledge, and develop fluency through spaced practice over time.
Of course, our understanding of the simple memory model has obvious implications for learning. These implications provide practical insights for students about how they can build effective Academic habits that will secure new and fragile learning.
Insight 1: Attention is a limited capacity resource (we each have finite ‘attention bucks’).
Implications: If attention is a limited capacity resource, then to optimise learning, students should:
- Self-motivate by setting goals.
- Sleep and eat well.
- Limit environmental distractions and task switching.
Insight 2: Memory is the residue of thought (we tend to remember the things we think hard about and are challenged by).
Implications: If memory is the residue of thought, then to optimise learning, students should:
- Apply knowledge – explain, summarise, analyse, evaluate, create, do!
- Ask questions and seek feedback.
- Reflect on the learning product and process, daily.
Insight 3: Automaticity is achieved through practice (learning requires careful management – we need to plan multiple exposures over time to ‘stick’ new knowledge to old knowledge).
Implications: If automaticity is achieved through practice, then to optimise learning, students should:
- Space and interleave practice over time – plan this using a calendar or diary.
- Test yourself - apply, check and correct (no passive reading or highlighting).
- Read widely on key topics and note take (Cornell, ideally) to build schema.
Ms Sarah Gunn
Director of Studies and Pedagogy
