What reaches working memory?
Selective processing.
Unattended information is unlikely to be encoded deeply.
Side 46
Learning
Science
A study of how durable learning is built. Learning science connects attention, memory, retrieval, feedback, transfer and expertise to the design of practice.
encode→retrieve→space→feedback→transfer
06learning lenses
05practice principles
05failure modes
46Side
Learning is not exposure; it is changed retrieval ability.
Information can feel familiar without becoming independently recallable or usable.
How is new information connected?
Meaning + prior knowledge.
Elaboration builds retrieval routes by linking new material to existing structures.
What persists beyond the moment?
Stabilize over time.
Memory becomes more durable through repeated activation and time-dependent consolidation.
Can the knowledge be reconstructed?
Without the answer present?
Retrieval itself strengthens later access.
Can knowledge guide action?
Apply beyond recognition.
Learning becomes valuable when it supports new problems and decisions.
Testing can be a learning event.
Trying to retrieve an answer strengthens memory more than simply rereading it, especially when feedback follows.
Produce without cues.
Harder retrieval often reveals whether knowledge is genuinely available.
Retrieve with a prompt.
Useful when the target skill itself depends on contextual cues.
Attempt before seeing.
Trying to generate an answer can improve later learning even when the first attempt fails.
Correct the retrieval trace.
Practice without correction can stabilize errors as well as correct knowledge.
Not all struggle is useful.
Desirable difficulty challenges retrieval while remaining solvable enough to produce learning.
Easy reading can feel like mastery.
Recognition and familiarity often overstate future recall.
Forgetting can become part of the practice design.
Spacing introduces enough delay that retrieval must be reconstructed rather than merely repeated from short-term memory.
Spacing
Distribute practice across time.
Repeated sessions separated by delay tend to produce more durable retention than massed practice.
Interleaving
Mix related problem types.
Interleaving forces learners to identify which strategy applies rather than repeating one routine.
Variation
Change surface conditions.
Variable practice can help separate underlying structure from superficial cues.
Lag
Let retrieval become effortful.
If repetitions are too close, performance can improve without durable learning.
Revisit
Return after apparent mastery.
Long-term retention requires renewed retrieval after the material begins to fade.
Working memory is limited.
Instruction becomes difficult when the learner must process too many unfamiliar elements at once.
Complexity inherent to the material.
Can be managed by sequencing prerequisite knowledge and breaking tasks into meaningful components.
Complexity created by presentation.
Unnecessary split attention, clutter and irrelevant detail consume cognitive resources.
Knowledge compresses complexity.
Experts can treat familiar configurations as one chunk where novices see many separate elements.
Show structure before independent solution.
Examples can reduce unproductive search during early learning.
Remove support gradually.
Scaffolds should decline as internal competence grows.
Representation affects load.
Words, diagrams and demonstrations should complement rather than duplicate or compete unnecessarily.
Feedback is useful when it changes the next attempt.
The best feedback identifies the gap, points toward correction and leaves the learner responsible for performing the improved action.
| Feedback | Question answered | Strength | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outcome | Was it right? | Fast signal | May not explain why |
| Corrective | What should change? | Targets error | Can become answer-giving |
| Process | Which strategy produced this? | Improves method | Can overload novices |
| Comparative | How does this differ from a model? | Reveals gap | May encourage imitation without understanding |
| Delayed | Can correction wait until retrieval? | Preserves independent attempt | Delay can allow confusion if too long |
Transfer is the real test of abstraction.
Knowing a solution in one context does not guarantee recognizing the same underlying structure elsewhere.
Near transfer
Apply knowledge to a problem that looks similar to practice.
Far transfer
Recognize a deep principle despite major surface differences.
Contrast
Compare cases so the feature that determines strategy becomes visible.
Explanation
Explain why a method works rather than only reproducing its steps.
Expertise
Extensive domain knowledge supports faster pattern recognition, but expertise remains domain-specific.
Adaptive expertise
Combine efficient routine with the ability to modify methods when conditions change.
Make It StickBrown, Roediger & McDaniel · retrieval and spacing
How Learning WorksAmbrose et al. · learning principles
PeakEricsson & Pool · deliberate practice
Cognitive Load TheorySweller, Ayres & Kalyuga · instructional design