Brain-Based Learning

How Learning Happens: Instructional Shifts

Dig into our collection of classroom practice videos grounded in the science of learning and find something to try in your own instruction—it could have an outsized impact on your students’ learning.

April 15, 2026

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Retrieval Practice
Making Retrieval Practice a Classroom Routine
By regularly working in activities that get students to recall content they’ve learned in the past and apply it, teachers can ensure deeper understanding.
Brain-Based Learning
Leveraging Prior Knowledge to Build Understanding
When teachers guide students through developing their own understanding of core concepts, they help the whole class start on a stronger foundation.
Classroom Management
Cultivating Effortful Thinking With the Warm Demander Approach
Combining strong relationships with clear expectations means teachers can create classrooms where every student feels supported—and accountable for sharing their thinking.
Teaching Strategies
Making Use of a Worked Example to Improve Learning
By explicitly modeling each step of a problem and gradually fading away supports, teachers can give students a clear path to mastering new content.
Brain-Based Learning
Using ‘Tell Me More’ Prompts to Make Learning Stick
Asking students to explain how they arrived at an answer is a powerful strategy for making a concept more memorable.
Teaching Strategies
Supporting Learners With Small Group Instruction
During short, purposeful sessions with a handful of students, teachers can address misconceptions—and help build stronger, more accurate understanding.
Classroom Management
Warming Up Cold Calling by Writing Ideas Down First
When students respond to questions on mini-whiteboards prior to being called on, they feel more prepared—and everyone participates in thinking through the answers.

Assessment
Solidifying Core Concepts With Examples and Non-Examples
Asking students to identify an example of what something is—and importantly, what it isn’t—helps establish clarity and leaves little room for misconception.
Brain-Based Learning
Pausing to Process New Information With a Stop and Jot
Building structured breaks into lessons that let students reflect, organize their thinking, and work through ideas in real time can strengthen their understanding.
Critical Thinking
Activating Prior Knowledge With Hexagonal Thinking
By creating a visual web of knowledge, students can demonstrate what connections they have already made about a topic, and where they might need additional clarification and support.
Student Engagement
Increasing Participation With Individual Whiteboards
When an entire class uses mini whiteboards to make thinking visible, teachers can be confident everyone is focused on the task at hand.
Teaching Strategies
Unlocking Effortful Thinking by Asking the Right Questions
By crafting a line of questioning around precisely what they want students thinking about, teachers create opportunities for students to process—and better retain—key content.

Classroom Management
Building Routines to Manage Cognitive Load
Creating procedures around daily classroom activities reduces the mental burden for students, leaving more brain space for them to think deeply about content.
Brain-Based Learning
Writing Notes by Hand for Better Processing
When teachers regularly pause during lectures so students can synthesize their thoughts with handwritten notes, content is more likely to stick.
Retrieval Practice
Scaffolding Deeper Learning With Recall Activities
When students are asked to remember and explain relevant knowledge just before applying it, they arrive at a more concrete understanding of the content.
Brain-Based Learning
Bolstering Effortful Thinking With Think, Ink, Pair, Share
Adding a writing step to this common classroom practice helps teachers ensure that every student is getting the opportunity to think deeply about a question.
Teaching Strategies
Making the Most of Learning Objectives
Asking students to unpack learning objectives with a quick routine helps them connect prior knowledge and feel more prepared for the day’s lesson.
Teaching Strategies
Focusing Attention With a Student-Led Recall Activity
By providing every student with an opportunity to actively remember yesterday’s lesson, teachers can set the stage for today’s success.

Special thanks to Jim Heal and Meg Lee, cofounders of Learning Science Partners, and the educators and families of Delta County Schools in Delta, Colorado, and Frederick County Public Schools in Frederick, Maryland. To learn more about how Frederick County trained more than 4,000 teachers in the science of learning, see our Districts That Work coverage about their journey.

For more tips and insights about teacher-tested, research-backed classroom strategies, subscribe to our free monthly newsletter, The Research Is In. And don’t forget to visit Edutopia’s dedicated Brain-Based Learning page. Bookmarking helps you stay up-to-date with the latest releases.

Have your own questions about how learning happens? Visit Edutopia’s community forum to share them and get insights from educators around the world.

Check out our original How Learning Happens video series, published in 2019 and 2020, to find more insights about how to apply the science of learning and development to help all students become productive and engaged learners.

.css-1sk4066:hover{background:#d1ecfa;}Making Retrieval Practice a Classroom Routine

Making Retrieval Practice a Classroom Routine