S3, EP8 Science of Learning

S3, EP8: Science of Learning

19/3/2023

How do we incorporate pedagogy that reflects the Science of Learning?

The Science of Learning has a growing body of research around how students learn and the evidence informed strategies that have the greatest impact on student learning outcomes.

In episode 8, the Teacher Takeaway Podcast team talk with Dr Nathaniel Swain about we can use the latest research about the Science of Learning to improve our teaching practice, including:

cognitive load theory
checking for understanding
daily review or retrieval practice
the curse of expertise
the forgetting curve

About Our Guest

Dr Nathaniel Swain is a Teacher, Instructional Coach, and Writer. He has recently joined La Trobe University School of Education and SOLAR LAB as Senior Lecturer in Learning Sciences. Nathaniel has taught a range of learners in primary school settings, and has a background in speech-language pathology. In 2019, Nathaniel founded a community of educators committed to the Science of Learning. Think Forward Educators

Click to learn more about Think Forward Educators

Click to explore Nathaniel Swain's website and blog 'Cognitorium'.

Book Recommendations

Why don't students like school? (Daniel Willingham)
Powerful Teaching (Agarwal & Bain)
Cognitive Load Theory in Action (Ollie Lovell)
Cognitive Load Theory (Greg Ashman)

App Recommendation

vbooks (pdf reader)

Click to find out more about the SOLAR Lab at La Trobe University

3 Comments

Suzanne Doust

23/3/2023 04:34:30 am

The short courses through the La Trobe Uni that Nathaniel mentioned are very easy to access and informative:)

George LILLEY link

24/3/2023 08:18:15 am

Y10-12 Maths has been dominated by the strategy of worked examples for decades. The problem in those year levels is engaging kids. Many of us try IBL once in awhile, just to break up the monotony of worked examples. Also, many people are not aware the architects of CLT also promoted goal-free problems and completion problems. I also sparingly use "productive failure" from a huge bank of lessons in Maths300. I know some poo-poo this approach, but there is a lot of evidence in favour. A gr8 -30 page summary of the history of CLT by Michael Pershan - https://cognitiveloadtheory.wordpress.com/ The main architect, Sweller in 2019 added "embodied cognition" to CLT. I've yet to see the main proponents of CLT address this as this will have huge implications for pedagogy.

Sarah

16/4/2023 01:16:24 pm

This was a standout session for me! I listen to the podcast during my morning commute each day. Just wondering, are there any graphics that represent the following - I'd love to have them on a poster or similar for easy reference :)
cognitive load theory
checking for understanding
daily review or retrieval practice
the curse of expertise
the forgetting curve

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Teacher Takeaway

Show Notes