Learning Requires Memory

Learning Requires Memory

A Response to Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
 

            It’s the night before your final exam in your Algebra 2 class.  You haven’t memorized all the templates and rules that you’ll need to know in order to solve all the problems that may be on the exam.  You’re nervous about the exam and begin to panic.   You open your notes to start reviewing and you come across a theorem that you haven’t practiced enough.  What do you do?  Do you go to your textbook and start doing the problems for that theorem?  How many problems does it take to have that theorem memorized?  Will you have to do 5, 10, or more?  How much time will it take to practice that one theorem and will there be time to finish studying for other types of problems?  Maybe cramming and repetition are not the best ways to memorize new skills so you’ll be able to recall them during a test.

According to some relatively new research done by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel over a three-year period and published in 2014 in their book, Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, memory plays a central role in our ability to carry out complex cognitive tasks, such as applying knowledge to problems never before encountered and drawing inferences from facts already known.  In fact, it is specifically how we apply new information, knowledge and skills to our memory that determines how well we will be able to recall that information at a future time when needed.  There are many methods used by students to learn new information, but not all methods used to plant new information into their memory banks work with success.

The authors point out that many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive.   I agree with their claim that learning is an acquired skill i.e., we need to learn how to learn.  We aren’t born with the skills to learn effectively.  In Make it Stick, the authors suggest learning methods that can be used to more effectively learn and plant new knowledge and skills into the memory.  These methods are referred to as retrieval practice, interleaved and varied practice, and the practice of elaboration.

Recalling information from memory is a more effective learning method than review by rereading.  Flashcards or simple quizzes after reading or hearing a lecture will generate better learning and remembering than rereading texts or reviewing notes.  Retrieval and practice strengthens the neural pathways that make up our ability to learn and remember.  This periodic practice is essential for memory to retain the newly gained knowledge. 

Differentiating types of problems and picking the right solution is a skill acquired more effectively by interleaving or varying your practice.  For instance, you can spend a few minutes practicing algebraic theorems, then practice lessons for another class, and then go back to the algebra.  This method improves both our recall and our ability to categorize and differentiate between solutions of new knowledge.

When we’re engaging in mechanical repetition, as in a massed practice, or practicing over and over the same type of problem or information, we tend to get tired and burn-out.  But, if you practice by elaboration you can learn more.  Elaboration is the process expressing newly gained knowledge in your own words and connecting it to knowledge you already possess. Attempting to teach someone else what you’ve just learned is a form of elaborating on the new knowledge and will help to make the information stick in your memory.

We have believed for a long time that the best ways to learn are through repetition.  I think it’s time to consider other methods of learning and retaining new knowledge.  Many of us don’t have time that can be wasted on using methods that aren’t going to help us be successful.  Therefore, I’m going to put this book to the test.  I’m starting to mix up my homework so I’m learning and practicing something different each hour that I have to do my work.   “The responsibility for learning rests with every individual” and I intend to challenge myself to learn all I can while I have time on this earth (252).