Powerful Long Term Memory  

1: Powerful Long Term Memory

Peps Mccrea states that our job as teachers is to increase the life chances of our students by helping them to develop more powerful long term memory. Ofsted state that learning is a ‘change in long term memory’.

Daisy Christodoulou in ‘Teachers v Tech?’ (HERE) states that the insight from the science of learning that perhaps has the most practical relevance or teachers is the distinction between working and long-term memory. Working memory is ‘the small amount of information that can be held in mind and used in the execution of cognitive tasks.’

Long-term memory consists of elaborate and well-organised knowledge structures (schemas) that provide us with a way of making sense of the everyday information we encounter.

Cognitive Load Theory (CLD)

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT)

The above was articulated by Sweller (1988) in his paper ‘Cognitive load during problem solving: effects on learning’. Oliver Caviglioli has produced a useful overview HERE.

CLT has been described by Dylan Wiliam as the single most important thing for teachers to know. CLT is based on the limited ability of the working memory to code information. Once learners have built up schema of knowledge that allow them to work on problems without exceeding their cognitive bandwidth, they can then work independently. Without it, their work will be in vain. We process information so that it is stored in our long-term memory. This is effectively unlimited, and we retrieve information back into our working memory as needed.

Long Term Memory and Schemas

We organise information into schemas. Typically, new information is only stored if we can connect it to knowledge that we already have. As a result, prior knowledge is a major factor in our capacity to learn new information. The more complex and interconnected our schemas are, the easier it is to make sense of new related information and the better we are able to organise it so that it makes sense. The concept of understanding is really ‘memory in disguise’. This means that our schemas are more fully formed, are more interconnected, and can be explored and recalled more fluently.

If we undertake enough retrieval practice, generating formulations of our memory and evaluating it for accuracy, we gain a degree of fluency and, ultimately automaticity. This is true of anything we learn, be it reading, driving or speaking a foreign language.

A consequence of this, as explained by cognitive load theory, is that the more fluent we are with retrieval of stored information, the more capacity we have in our working memory to attend to new information and problem solving – if we are efficient in bringing up the information from memory, then there’s more working memory space left to deal with applying the information. The opposite is also true: when we are less fluent with recall, our capacity to attend to new information and problem-solving is diminished. This is a key difference between expert and novice learners.

Think of novice drivers, who become easily overwhelmed by the pressures of traffic and road signs; they are more likely to have difficulty absorbing all of the external information as well as focussing on the skill of driving itself.

As we develop mastery in the various areas of our lives, we tend to bundle together the incremental steps that are required to solve different kinds of problems - you could think of them as something like ‘smart-phone apps’ in the brain. We call them mental models or schemas. Schemas help us to get around the working memory bottleneck because we don’t need to think about them.

Building knowledge: minimal guidance vs direct instruction

Reducing guidance and structure makes tasks more complex, and complex tasks often overwhelm our limited working memories, making it hard for us to learn anything. Kirschner, Sweller and Clark (2006) (HERE) reviewed the evidence for minimally guided teaching and found that for novices, guided instruction is more effective because it reduces the load on working memory.

‘Learning, simply stated, means that there has been a change made in one’s long term memory’

This article is important as it is one of the first to use developments in cognitive science to challenge the once dominant orthodoxy in teaching, that direct instruction or teacher-led learning is a less effective approach than allowing learners to discover knowledge for themselves.

Key Takeaways

• Learning is a change in long term memory.
• Working memory is severely limited in duration and capacity.
• Long term memory is virtually unlimited. It contains huge amounts of information organised in schemas.
• Any instructional procedure that ignores the structures that constitute human cognitive architecture is not likely to be effective.
• Minimally guided instruction challenges working memory and, thus, inhibits/hampers effective and efficient learning.
• Explicit instruction (e.g. Rosenshine, Engelmann) takes human cognitive architecture into account and, thus, supports effective and efficient learning.
• While there is a substantial body of research supporting explicitly guided instruction, more than a half-century of promotion of minimally guided learning has not produced a body of research supporting its use.

Rosenshine Supports Effective and Efficient Learning

Explicit direct instruction takes ‘human cognitive architecture into account’ (i.e. Rosenshine di and Engelmann DI) and helps to explain why we have adopted Rosenshine as a group.

• Rosenshine 1986:
• ‘When too much information is presented at once, our working memory becomes swamped.’
• ‘This suggests that when teaching new or difficult material, a teacher should proceed in small steps and provide practice on one step before adding another.’
• 2012 Rosenshine:
• ‘General pattern of teaching’: review prior learning >> new info in small steps >> ask lots of questions >> provide models >> guided practice >> check understanding >> high success rate >> scaffolds >> independent practice >> review.
• Summarised as I/we/you i.e. explanation/modelling > guided practice > independent practice.

1.3: Retrieval Practice, Forgetting Curve, Spacing

Retrieval Practice refers to the act of recalling learned information from memory (with little or no support) and every time that information is retrieved, or an answer is generated, it changes the original memory to make it stronger. It is a key feature of the Rosenshine Principles and key to changing long term memory.

Retrieval Practice and Rosenshine

• ‘The most effective teachers in the studies of classroom instruction understood the importance of practice, and they began their lessons with a five-to-eight-minute review of previously covered material.’ Rosenshine 2012, p.2.
• ‘Research has found that even at the secondary level, classes that had weekly quizzes scored better on final exams than did classes with only one or two quizzes during the term.’ Rosenshine 2012, p.8.

Principle 1: Start the lesson with a short review of previous learning: Retrieval Practice is central to this. Retrieval needs to be a routine start to lessons. Each lesson should begin with a ‘Do Now’; this is a review in the form of a low stakes retrieval technique. Retrieval Practice does not have to be restricted to the start of the lesson but can in fact be used at any point within a lesson, in the same way as ‘Checking For Understanding’.

Principle 10: Engage students in regular review: this can be weekly and/or monthly to revisit prior learning and support long-term memory. Once again this lends itself perfectly to retrieval and spaced practice. Once again, this is low stakes, not a big test.

Retrieval Practice Techniques

Retrieval practice is intended to be low-stakes or no-stakes. UL produce tailored Retrieval Practice resources, such as Starter Grids/Mats produced by subject advisors, alongside very simple ‘Do Now’ low or no stakes quizzes. Katie Jones, in her ‘Retrieval Practice’ (2019) book, accessed HERE, provides many varied techniques for retrieval practice e.g. simple low stakes tests, retrieval grids, retrieval roulette, revision clocks etc.

See Appendix 1 for further detail on ‘Forgetting’, ‘Spacing’ and ‘Desirable Difficulties’.

Retrieval Practice Is More Effective Than Other Revision Strategies: ‘Desirable Difficulties’

Why do students prefer re-reading over testing? There is no challenge or very little mental effort required when re-reading/highlighting notes in comparison to trying to retrieve information when answering questions. This gives students the illusion of competence while studying. It is the challenge from spaced retrieval practice that significantly improves learning. Brown et all in ‘Make It Stick’ (2014) (HERE) wrote that when learning is harder, it is stronger and lasts longer, they also add that the more effort required to retrieve something, the better you actually learn it.

Bjork stated that performance is not the same thing as learning. Spacing out practice may not give you the same fluency in the short term, but it is far better in the long-term. He states ‘Using your memory, shapes your memory.’ Some difficulties that elicit more effort and that slow down learning – spacing, interleaving, mixing up practice, and others – will more than compensate for their inconvenience by making the learning stronger, more precise, and more enduring. Short term impediments that make for stronger learning have come to be called desirable difficulties, a term coined by the psychologists Elizabeth and Robert Bjork (‘Desirable Differences’, available HERE).

Retrieval Practice, Forgetting Curve, Spacing

Retrieval Practice refers to the act of recalling learned information from memory (with little or no support) and every time that information is retrieved, or an answer is generated, it changes the original memory to make it stronger. It is a key feature of the Rosenshine Principles and key to changing long term memory.

Retrieval Practice and Rosenshine

• ‘The most effective teachers in the studies of classroom instruction understood the importance of practice, and they began their lessons with a five-to-eight-minute review of previously covered material.’ Rosenshine 2012, p.2.
• ‘Research has found that even at the secondary level, classes that had weekly quizzes scored better on final exams than did classes with only one or two quizzes during the term.’ Rosenshine 2012, p.8.

Principle 1: Start the lesson with a short review of previous learning: Retrieval Practice is central to this. Retrieval needs to be a routine start to lessons. Each lesson should begin with a ‘Do Now’; this is a review in the form of a low stakes retrieval technique. Retrieval Practice does not have to be restricted to the start of the lesson but can in fact be used at any point within a lesson, in the same way as ‘Checking For Understanding’.

Principle 10: Engage students in regular review: this can be weekly and/or monthly to revisit prior learning and support long-term memory. Once again this lends itself perfectly to retrieval and spaced practice. Once again, this is low stakes, not a big test.

Retrieval Practice Techniques

Retrieval practice is intended to be low-stakes or no-stakes. UL produce tailored Retrieval Practice resources, such as Starter Grids/Mats produced by subject advisors, alongside very simple ‘Do Now’ low or no stakes quizzes. Katie Jones, in her ‘Retrieval Practice’ (2019) book, accessed HERE, provides many varied techniques for retrieval practice e.g. simple low stakes tests, retrieval grids, retrieval roulette, revision clocks etc.

See Appendix 1 for further detail on ‘Forgetting’, ‘Spacing’ and ‘Desirable Difficulties’.

Retrieval Practice Is More Effective Than Other Revision Strategies: ‘Desirable Difficulties’

Why do students prefer re-reading over testing? There is no challenge or very little mental effort required when re-reading/highlighting notes in comparison to trying to retrieve information when answering questions. This gives students the illusion of competence while studying. It is the challenge from spaced retrieval practice that significantly improves learning. Brown et all in ‘Make It Stick’ (2014) (HERE) wrote that when learning is harder, it is stronger and lasts longer, they also add that the more effort required to retrieve something, the better you actually learn it.

Bjork stated that performance is not the same thing as learning. Spacing out practice may not give you the same fluency in the short term, but it is far better in the long-term. He states ‘Using your memory, shapes your memory.’ Some difficulties that elicit more effort and that slow down learning – spacing, interleaving, mixing up practice, and others – will more than compensate for their inconvenience by making the learning stronger, more precise, and more enduring. Short term impediments that make for stronger learning have come to be called desirable difficulties, a term coined by the psychologists Elizabeth and Robert Bjork (‘Desirable Differences’, available HERE).

Retrieval Practice and Revision Techniques

We recommend that academies develop a Year 7-13 revision policy, based around the techniques outlined in this section.

• Self-Quizzing from Knowledge Organisers
• Self-quizzing from Knowledge Organisers (using techniques such as Look/Cover/Write/Check) should be built into a daily homework (see the Case Study in Appendix 2).
• Flash Cards

Flash cards are a very useful revision activity for many reasons. When students create flash cards with questions on one side and answers on the other, this promotes self-or pair testing to ensure active recall – retrieval practice is then taking place. It is vital students include the answers when creating flash cards because this provides instant feedback and guidance. This feedback also informs students where the gaps in their knowledge are that they need to return to and focus on. It is important that students consciously recall the answer to the question on their flash cards, either verbally or in writing.

Nicky Case, How to remember anything forever-ish– has some lovely interactive graphs that illustrate the idea of spaced-repetition, and which integrates some flashcards into the explanation.

Flash cards with the Leitner System

The Leitner system (named after the German science journalist in the 1970s) is a very useful way of using flashcards, combining retrieval and spaced practice. The focus of this system is to help students revisit the cards/topics that they have previously struggled with, until they can retrieve that information with ease and confidence. The main method involves using three boxes (tray/wallet). This system relies on students using their flashcards on a regular basis for self-quizzing during the week. Jon Hutchinson provides an excellent demonstration on Youtube HERE.

Flash Card Apps

Quizlet is the largest online flashcard site and is a great online tool for creating digital flashcards. Other popular flashcard apps include StudyBlue, Brainscape and Flash Cards Flashcards Maker. Christodoulou has created some digital flashcards as an example, using Anki. The following examples can be seen via Anki:

• An Introduction to Shakespeare's Life and Works – this deck consists of 18 cards about Shakespeare’s life and works. It’s designed for use after you’ve read or studied a little bit about Shakespeare.
• An Introduction to Spaced Repetition – this deck consists of 15 cards about spaced repetition. It’s designed for use after you’ve watched this video.

Digital Quizzes

Digital Quizzes

Digital quizzes make it easier to space out repetition of new content in the most effective way. One of the practical challenges in implementing spaced repetition is finding the best moment to review the material, the sweet spot of ‘desirable difficultly’ where you have to struggle to recall something but haven’t totally forgotten. Digital quizzing makes it easier to find this moment. These systems use complex technology, but are all designed to be as straightforward as possible. They all use powerful adaptive technology that personalises the content or questions a student receives.

We use online learning platforms such as Hegarty, Seneca, Tassmomai, Memorise, Quizlet and other Quizzing apps mentioned above.

Memory Cues

1.4: Memory Cues

Mnemonic devices are mental tools to help hold material in memory. When used properly, mnemonics can help organise large bodies of knowledge to permit their ready retrieval. With the development of schemas/mental models, mnemonic cues are no longer needed. We recommend that academies use these.

Examples include: Mnemonics e.g. ROYGBIV are simple mnemonic devices; a memory palace is a more complex type of mnemonic device that is useful for organising and holding large volumes of material in memory, which are surprisingly effective; rhyme schemes can also serve as mnemonic tools e.g. peg method; songs you know well can provide a mnemonic structure, chanting.

Example: ’Rolling numbers’: clip accessed HERE.

Elaboration

1.5: Elaboration

Elaboration is the process of finding additional layers of meaning in new material. Examples include relating the material to what you already know, explaining it to somebody else in your own words, or explaining how it relates to your life outside of class. A powerful form of elaboration is to discover a metaphor or visual image for the new material. The more that you can elaborate on how new learning relates to what you already know, the stronger your grasp of the new learning will be, and the more connections you create to remember it later. We should build in elaboration opportunities.

Dual Coding

One of the most important points from dual coding theory (Clark and Paivio (1991)) is that the logogens (verbal system i.e. words) and the imagens (non-verbal systems i.e. images associated with a word) have additive effects on memory. In other words, you remember information better if you use both systems at the same time than if you use only one system.

Nobody thinks or learns best (i.e. has a visual or a verbal learning style) in an environment that only makes use of one. There are no ‘image thinkers’ or ‘language thinkers’. Everyone thinks with both systems and everyone benefits from using both. The more often you use the two systems together, the stronger the trace in your memory and the better you will remember and thus will learn.

When using dual coding theory, it’s extremely important to properly mix what you present in words (either orally or textually) with images that can illustrate, explain, and concretise the textual concept. There is also a danger of dual coding becoming a fad – it has sometimes been misinterpreted as no more than adding clipart and logos to powerpoints – it is not this! Oliver Caviglioli has written a very good book called ‘Dual Coding for Teachers’ (HERE).

Teach students how to study

Students often misguidedly gravitate to activities like rereading, massed practice and cramming. The work of the ‘Learning Scientists’ is really helpful for this.

They have designed student friendly single-page instructional posters which are available HERE and sticker versions HERE. It is important that we teach students how to study, using the ideas from cognitive science. The ‘Learning Scientists’ resources provide a good starting point (see also Section 4).