Retrieval Practice: Research & Resources for every classroom: Resources and research for every classroom

Product Information

In this episode of The Cult of Pedagogy podcast, Jennifer Gonzalez speaks to Pooja Agarwal about what retrieval practice is and how you can start incorporating it into your classroom right away. I often begin planning a lesson by asking myself, “What are the five things that I want all children to remember by the end of this lesson?” These then become the targets for quiz questions in the following lesson.

Within that lesson, there will be some key facts that we don’t want the children to forget. So the very first thing that we do at the start of the next lesson is ask all children to answer the question, “According to myth, who founded Rome?” While this takes place, I’ll whizz around the classroom and make a note of any common misconceptions. The whole episode takes around five minutes. Later this week my second book will be published with John Catt Education, Retrieval Practice: Research and Resources for every classroom . I am really excited for teachers to read it and I hope they find it very informative and useful. Through conversations with educators, both online and offline, it has been interesting to find out different perspectives and opinions when it comes to retrieval practice. Generally, the attitude is very positive (although I’m aware that the fact I’ve authored a book about retrieval practice may influence the conversations I have with other teachers!).Try throwing in some questions where the answer is already correct (ie where something is the same in both dimensions) and see if they notice! Memorise this… Explain that the students will be given time to look at the first slide and store the information in their minds, without writing anything down. Another idea is to have five keywords on the board. Students must define each one or write a paragraph summarising previous learning including all five words. Alternatively, they can create five questions where each keyword is the answer.

Psychologists (and teachers!) have known for a long time that a little bit of stress is a good thing in terms of student performance. However, too much stress can be debilitating and hinders performance. In this session, Kate Jones, author of Love To Teach, Retrieval Practice and Retrieval Practice 2 will be sharing the research behind this effective teaching and learning strategy as well as top tips as to how this can be implemented in the classroom. This will cover a combination of evidence and experience, both of which Kate believes need to be combined to successfully implement and embed retrieval practice in the classroom. Kate will share practical tried and tested examples. There will also be the opportunity to ask Kate questions too. Why Don’t Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, by Daniel Willingham Ideas for retrieval practise tasks for languages inspired by ‘Retrieval Practice’ by Kate Jones Majority of the templates collated by http://learninglinguist.co.uk/ .Coach & mentor: I work with colleagues across Primary and Secondary schools specialising in teaching and learning linked to educational research, the science of learning, literacy across the curriculum, edtech with Apple, Microsoft and Google technologies. I also support senior leaders and teachers with professional development. These changes are possible because of how well-researched retrieval practice is. Cognitive scientists have spent decades investigating its use as a memory technique. Though nothing in science is ever beyond question, the positive results across a vast number of studies certainly seem to suggest it’s an effective method. New discoveries

We’d love to see how you put this practical Kate Jones retrieval practice resource to use in your school. Tell us about the impact of retrieval practice in your classroom by tweeting us at @teachwire. Participants in a study used either re-reading or retrieval practice to learn material, but in varying amounts. After they had a set amount of time with these techniques, they were asked to predict how well they thought they would recall that information in a week or so’s time. Our job is to interrupt this forgetting, by using effective strategies to prompt children to retrieve information from memory. Embed multiple-choice quizzes into your classroom practiceLook at your scheme of learning for a half term. Decide what the key takeaway concepts or vocabulary are in that time. So, while quizzing may not be the flashiest or most fashionable classroom activity, there is an abundance of science outlining the learning rewards. Mistakes to avoid Topical – Given the current drive to become more research-engaged in education, many teachers will find something they’re interested in in this book. And psychologists point to competence as an incredibly powerful driver of long term motivation. As we get better at things, we start to enjoy them more.

Once students have their flash cards that contain questions and answers to self-test they then need to ensure that they space out their revision in regards to when they self-test. We don’t want students to use flash cards as a method of intense last-minute cramming before an exam. A great strategy to ensure spaced or distributed practice is known as the Leitner system, named after Sebastian Leitner who developed this method in the 1970s. An excellent explanation of how this works can be seen in the video below posted by primary teacher Jon Hutchinson. I have shared this video with colleagues, students and parents all of whom have been appreciative and many of my students now use this system. In fact a paradigm shift is occurring around revision itself. We’ve moving away from a system where we teach a sequence of lessons, have a revision lesson and then a test. But what if you did put in that effort, and it worked out? What if you persevered through that short-term pain and feeling of frustration? Imagine you really committed yourself to retrieval practice, and were duly rewarded in a test. The problem with adding in these silly options is that they distract children from what you actually want them to remember (that “there were no more worlds to conquer”).Kate Jones has written a practical book called Love To Teach: Research and Resources for Every Classroom, published by John Catt. Head of department, classroom teacher and award-winning educational speaker and author Kate Jones breaks down arguably the most popular area of cognitive psychology in education: Retrieval Practice. The book covers a wealth of academic research as well as innovative ways to apply it in the classroom. Why read this book?