How Learning Works

The bad news is that most data seem to show that students are not learning nearly so much in college as we would hope - or as we imagine is happening (see, e.g. Another study showing students are not learning). The good news is that learning research shows us how to improve those outcomes.  However, the additional bad news is that most academics have no idea what  the research says or, more important, what the research says should be done in a real classroom to get better learning. 

One of my collegues recently introduced me to an excellent book that seeks to remedy this last bit of bad news.   The book, How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching, describes seven crucial principles of learning, the research that supports those principles, and their implications for teaching. Each principle is made more concrete by a set of instructional strategies that can be used for its implementation.  The authors of this work are Susan Ambrose, Michael Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Marsha Lovett, and Marie Norman.  and the book is based on approaches developed at the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence at Carnegie Mellon. 

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Learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks. The teacher can advance learning only by influencing what the student does to learn.

HERBERT A. SIMON

Both the book and the Eberly Center webpage on Learning/Teaching begin with this quote, which signals right off that this will be a learner centered -rather than teacher centered - approach. The seven deceptively simple principles of the book title are:

1. Students' prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.
2. How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know.
3. Student's motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.
4. To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned.
5. Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students' learning.
6. Students' current level of development iteracts with the social, emotional, and intellectural climate of the course to impact learning.
7. to become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning.

Each chapter comes with recognizable examples showing common classroom problems that arise when one of these principles is not addressed effectively. The authors also give the critically important warning:

Ironically, expertise can be a liability as well as an advantage when it comes to teaching. 

They show us why expertise sometimes blinds us to what students need in order to learn, and present strategies to overcome these blind spots of our expertise.  

All in all, an excellent "how to" book on learning and teaching that should be in the library of everyone whose job description involves helping students to learn. 

Comments

[woodstock story]

One of the reasons why the irresponsibility in studying mostly happens in college is students getting tired of studying for almost 10 years from elementary and now college.

Thanks for sharing a good book in a hope of bringing back student's heart for studying. This is worth publishing to other resources so as to be disseminated and to immediately fix a problem in education.

[tampa seo]

Excellent content to reveal the learner-centered techniques that are out there.

[Jeanette Cullum]

Finding a book that can assist those of us in the changing face of higher education to meet the needs of our students is refreshing. I plan to share with my team and leadership.

[Best engineering college in India]

Mostly student have a lack of knowledge for changing higher education. I think your have share awesome idea about how learning works.

[Geelong Schools]

I must say that the book,How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching is really a good one and the content is great..One should read it..

[shannah hartman]

We are entering into a new world of learning and as we all know that for every good one creates something bad is also created. We can attend to teach our young learners but we can not stop them from buying work or having others complete their assignments which is a way around plagarisum and sites such as turn it in. We need to focus on the value of education and installing the internal desire to learn in our students. We need to think outside of the box such as nuroeducation to focus on techniques to help our students learn by understand the brain functions.

[shannah hartman]

Hello everyone,

This seems to be a very good cite and I am excited that I have found a group of knowldgeable people to share my experiences with.

[Kelly K.]

Like Mick, I am also working on a doctoral degree in higher education and adult learning and found the principles mentioned in this article similar to those of Malcom Knowles. Incorporating learner experience, transference of knowledge, relevance, and understanding "why" are all important tenants of Knowles' principles.

This androgogical approach makes sense, really. When helping adults to learn, an effective educator will take into account where the students have been, where they are, and where they want to be...and why. He or she will use that information to work in tandem with the student to achieve goals, likely learning with the student in the process.

Great article to shed light on the learner-centered approaches that are out there.

[Mick Raike]

Lloyd,

Thank you for another insightful article. I am currently working on my doctorate in higher education and adult learning and have been intensely studying the points that the book "How Learning Works..." emphasizes. One of the key points of adult education (which incidentally is listed first in your posting) is paying tribute to the learner's past experience and knowledge of the subject. Malcolm Knowles believed that instructors should be learning right along with their students. I know that it can be a little intimidating for younger undergrad students to take the reigns of their own learning, but there has to come a point when the hand holding must stop and the path to lifelong learning begins.

Another great book that deals with the instructor’s role in the learning process is Ken Bain's 2004 book "What the Best College Teachers Do". I have referred to it several times during my research and highly recommend it.

Mick

Lloyd comments: Thanks, Mick, for the reading suggestion.

[Highton Schools]

Lack of students interest in studies results to poor academics result. I find your principles amazing and will definitely gonna help students in achieving success.