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This is an abridged version of the workshop presented at the 14th Braz Tesol International Conference.
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Mirela C. C. Ramacciotti14th Braz tesol International ConventionMay 2014
HOW WE (AND OUR STUDENTS) LEARN BEST
It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else,
will affect its successful outcome.William James
We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man's estate, is the gift of education.Jean-Jacques Rousseau
If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.Isaac Newton
Overview
Minds-on workshop Practical examples of how we learn
best Theoretical framework Academic background Examples Review of main content Assessment
Theoretical Framework
Learning changes the biophysical properties of the neuron
Learning changes the brain
neurons
Theoretical framework
Learning promotes synaptic strength
As all functions involving synapses, the best way to maintain and perfect learning is through exercise and practice
synaptic strength
Synaptic involvement
exercise
practice
Academic Background
Study by Bahrick & Phelps (1987) showed that L2 knowledge remains viable for a very long time (over 30 years)
Study by George Miller (The Magical number 7, 1956) looked at numbers, letters or simple symbols. For concepts and facts, the magic is down to 4 and if we are manipulating or combining these elements, the magic is reduced to 2 or 3.
L2 memory viable for very long time
Cognitive load
Examples
Slow it down
Break complicated ideas into smaller pieces (one at a time)
http://www.muralmosaic.com/Cochrane.html
Lots of practice opportunities with feedback
Focus on relevant information
How to deal with the cognitive load
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Academic Background
Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., Wixted, J. T., & Vul, E. (2008) found out that ‘ testing enhanced overall recall more than restudying did’ and it also ‘reduced forgetting more than restudying did.’
Karpicke, J. D. & Roediger, H. L. (2008). stressed the critical role of retrieval practice in consolidating learning. This ‘employs a familiar tool—the test—in a new way: not to assess what students know, but to reinforce it. Every time we pull up a memory, we make it stronger and more lasting, so that testing doesn’t just measure, it changes learning.’ (http://anniemurphypaul.com/2013/09/making-homework-smarter/)
• The testing effect
• retrieval practice
•tests strengthen learning
Examples
Instead of reading a textbook passage several times, ask Ss. to close the textbook and ask themselves to recall from memory what they’ve just read
Test to reinforce (focus less on input and more on output)
retrieval practice (self-testing)
Retrieval practive (test to reinforce)
Academic Background
UCLA psychologist Robert Bjork(1994) developed the idea of desirable difficulties – ‘conditions that introduce difficulties for the learner — and appear to slow the rate of the learning — can enhance long-term retention and transfer.’ (
www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2006/march-06)
Desirable difficulties (Cognitive disfluency)
enhance LTR & transfer
Academic Background
Carpenter, S. K., Cepeda, N. J., Rohrer, D., Kang, S. H. K., & Pashler, H. (2012) advocated for the spaced approach to learning = prefer briefer sessions of the same material over a longer period of time to concentrating the study of information in single blocks as first acquired memories, are volatile, subject to change or likely to disappear. ‘Exposing ourselves to information repeatedly over time fixes it more permanently in our minds, by strengthening the representation of the information that is embedded in our neural networks.’ (http://anniemurphypaul.com/2013/09/making-homework-smarter/)
•Spaced repetition: same material /briefer sessions
•First acquired memories volatile, changeable and fade easily
•Repetition strengthens new information
Examples
Instead of going through a whole unit in one class, break it down
spacing
study sessions
Examples
Alternate contents and vary ways to present/engage
Provide different problems to be practiced (interleaving)
interleaving
Feedback
10. WHAT HELPS LEARNING? A. blocking info B. reading same info
over and over C. spacing info D. interleaving info
11.THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS
A. by testing oneself B. by spacing content C. by alternating
contents D. all of the above
Conclusion
Learning
neurons
Synapticstrength
L2
Long term viability
Cognitive load
Testing Effect/Cognitive Disfluency
Retrieval Practice
Spaced Repetition
Interleaving
Review of Main Content :Theoretical Framework
Learning
neurons
synapses
exercise
practice
Learning changes the brain
Review of Main Content: Academic Background
Slow down Break into
smaller pieces
Practice with feedback
Focus
Cognitive Load
Cognitive load
Review of Main Content: Academic Background
Self-
testing
Test to
reinforc
e
Retrieval
practice
retrieval practice
Review of Main Content: Academic Background
Cognitive disfluency
Inter-leaving
Enhance LTR
Desirable difficulties
Review of Main Content: Academic Background
• Same material• Briefer sessions
Spaced repetition
•Spaced repetition
Assessment/ Reinforcement
References
Bahrick, H. P., & Phelphs, E. (1987). Retention of Spanish vocabulary over 8 years. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13(2), 344.
Bjork, R. A. (1994). Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings. In Metcalfe, Janet (Ed); Shimamura, Arthur P. (Ed), (1994). Metacognition: Knowing about knowing. , (pp. 185-205). Cambridge, MA, US: The MIT Press, xiii, 334 pp.
Carpenter, S. K., Cepeda, N. J., Rohrer, D., Kang, S. H. K., & Pashler, H. (2012). Using spacing to enhance diverse forms of learning: Review of recent research and implications for instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 24, 369-378
Carpenter, S. K., Pashler, H., Wixted, J. T., & Vul, E. (2008). The effects of tests on learning and forgetting. Memory & Cognition, 36(2), 438-448.
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. science, 319(5865), 966-968.
Kaufeldt, M. (Ed.). (2009). Begin with the brain: Orchestrating the learner-centered classroom. SAGE.
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological review, 63(2), 81.