6 Ways to Apply Cognitive Science Research in the Classroom

Today, the term evidence-based seems to be everywhere: new curricula, state standards, district communications, professional development, and even Instagram ads.

But the term isn’t always clearly defined. Sometimes it loosely references research without a strong analytical assessment of how rigorously that research was conducted. But when it comes to student learning, we must have a clear understanding.

At Deans for Impact, our report The Science of Learning synthesizes the “evidence base” from cognitive science research into a practical guide for educators. Informed by decades of research, it includes the most robust, well-informed evidence about how students learn and offers actionable steps teachers can take to ensure that their instruction supports student learning.

These lessons are not tied to a specific subject area or grade. Rather, they can be applied in any classroom or environment where learning happens. Our newly released second edition includes potential pitfalls for teachers to avoid as they work to anchor their instruction in the science of learning and a new section on how teachers can help students become self-regulated learners.

We believe that every future teacher should be prepared with a fundamental understanding of how students learn and the ability to apply that understanding in the classroom, and we think every teacher should know how to answer the following six questions.

1. How do students understand new ideas?

Imagine a seventh-grade math class being introduced to two-step algebraic equations. Students are being taught something new, but their understanding is built on what they already know about operations and number relationships.

Teachers can connect this new learning to prior knowledge by prompting students to recall relevant information, defining new terms, and modeling the specific steps to solve the algebraic equation. They can use multiple modalities, from verbal explanations to visual representation, to support durable learning and focus student attention on the most relevant information.

2. How do students learn and retain new information?

When preparing for a history exam, students might reread homework, resources, and textbook chapters until the material feels very familiar and recitable from memory. But familiarity is not the same as being able to recall that information later.

To ensure that students both learn and retain new information, teachers can probe deeper thinking about the topic during instruction, asking students to analyze, justify, and elaborate on their understanding of its meaning, and encourage peer practice with feedback. They can support students to practice recalling information, using short quizzes spaced out across lessons, and give specific feedback to students so they know what they’ve mastered and where they can grow in their understanding of the material.

3. How do students solve problems and transfer learning to new contexts?

A chemistry teacher might be confused when their students struggle to apply a procedure in the day’s chemistry lesson that they know that their students learned in a previous math lesson. But domain-specific knowledge and skills aren’t always easily transferable just because they’re procedurally similar to something learned in another subject.

Teachers can help support transfer by making explicit the connection between the context of the problem and what strategy applies. They can lay out each step of a process, explicitly name the concept and terms, and share multiple strategies for how students might go about solving the problem.

4. What motivates students to learn?

Some students love to read. Others may not enjoy it as much. While a teacher can offer prizes or pizza parties to encourage more participation across a class, that alone won’t build long-term motivation for reading.

Students are more motivated when they believe they can succeed and feel they belong. Teachers can communicate high expectations and give support and feedback aligned with this mindset. They can involve students in decision-making about projects, set meaningful and challenging tasks with clear and high expectations, and provide explicit and clear feedback (both positive and constructive) that is focused on improvement, not just performance.

5. How do students become self-regulated learners?

A student may hear about a deadline for a science project and anticipate that it’s possible to complete within two days instead of the two weeks they’re given. On the night before the project is due, they may realize they didn’t give themselves enough time to complete it.

Teachers can proactively help students become self-regulated learners by supporting them to break down the process of planning, setting goals, and estimating and tracking how long each part of the process will take. Over time, students will build their awareness of what different projects require, along with the knowledge and skills they need to self-regulate their learning.

6. What are common misconceptions about how students think and learn?

When teaching a lesson, a teacher may notice that one student likes reading picture books, while another prefers audiobooks. They may then conclude that one is a visual learner, and another is an auditory learner. However, research tells us that while students may have preferences for how they engage in learning, tailoring instruction to “learning styles” does not actually support strong learning. Additionally, how well a student completes homework or passes an exam does not necessarily equate to how much they’ve mastered the material. Students may take on a number of strategies, from cramming for an exam the night before to doing their homework quickly without checking it over.

Teachers should regularly check for understanding and be mindful that productivity and performance alone do not equate to deep and durable learning. They should design learning experiences that focus student attention on the most important content and provide them opportunities to connect new learning to what they already know. Students can then elaborate and justify their thinking, as well as engage in regular retrieval to strengthen memory traces and support durable learning.

When all teachers are prepared with a foundational understanding of how students learn and the skills to apply that understanding to instructional decision-making, both teachers and students benefit.