For well over 100 years, researchers have labored tirelessly to understand how humans learn and remember. The resulting scientific literature is impressive, both in its scope and its depth. In fact, so much is now known that I doubt that any human could read and absorb all that has been written on the subject. The sad irony, though, is that it’s often not obvious how to use the findings of all of this research in educational settings.
Integrating the Science of How We Learn into Education Technology
For well over a century, researchers have labored tirelessly to understand how humans learn and remember. The resulting scientific literature is impressive, both in its scope and its depth. But it’s often not obvious how to use these findings in educational settings. This is where technology can help, opening up huge opportunities to use the science of learning in new ways. For example, new technologies can be used to track students’ progress on a very granular level, to personalize their learning at just the right level – the so-called “Goldilocks Spot, where they are challenged not so much that they get frustrated, and not so little that they are bored. To take advantage of these opportunities, we need to have clear learning outcomes, we need to measure each student’s progress in achieving those outcomes very granularly, and we need to shift to a focus on active learning. To achieve these ends, faculty and administrators must decide that successful teaching is a crucial goal and be willing to devote the time, energy, and resources necessary to achieve it.