STICK, STICK, STICK: Teaching for Sticky Learning — Part 1

Ok, so we get it—what we teach should stick with learners.  But how do you make it stick? Do I have to completely redesign my course?  How much time is this going to take? How will I know if the learning is sticking?

I understand there might be some anxiety about making pedagogical shifts, especially changes that are not specifically tied to learning outcomes or institutional objectives, but let me assure you that I’m not suggesting radical changes. You can look at sticky teaching as an experiment, an opportunity to test ideas and concepts, while not abandoning valued content in your academic discipline.

Teaching for Sticky Learning IS NOT…

Let’s face it—we are quite familiar with the content that is pertinent to our own discipline. While we certainly need to keep abreast of current research and scholarly publications, we know our field. Teaching for sticky learning is not primarily about information.

Content delivery is one of the most important aspects of sticky learning, but not the sole focus. The way in which information is delivered, who delivers it, and what form the information takes are all important considerations if we want to encourage our students to remember what they learn and be able to remember it, apply it, manipulate it, and adapt it over time. If we are willing to risk making the shift from teaching to learning, we begin by reimagining ourselves in the classroom (teacher as leading learner and not the sole source of knowledge), rethinking the nature of both the content and delivery (considering the experiences of learners, learning that occurs among learners, and the role of the learning environment), and retooling ourselves (effective use of media and technology, increasing use of multisensory elements, modifying our lecture format).

Teaching in ways that encourage sticky learning has the potential to excite your students about learning as well as excite you about teaching. The five Tips for Sticky Learning I am suggesting are distilled from cognitive neuroscience research and reflections by educators on the impact of neuroscientific research for pedagogy. These tips for sticky learning are intended to spark your imagination about what you teach, how you teach, where learning occurs, and even who is doing the teaching. Paying more attention to all the ways and places in which we learn and how our brains create memories increases the potential that all of us, teachers as well as students, will develop rich, robust understandings that can become transformative.

Teaching for Sticky Learning IS…

…Balance!

Teaching for sticky learning is primarily a balancing act; balancing the quantity of content with the quality of the learning experience. As we examine each of five “Tips for Sticky Learning” over these two blog posts, try to remember I’m not suggesting you throw out everything you’ve known and practiced in your educational career. Instead, try to imagine tipping the scales just a little bit toward a different kind of learning experience for you as well as your students.

Sticky Learning Tip #1:  Begin by stimulating more of the senses. 

The senses are the loading docks of the brain, delivering loads of information to our brain. But not all of our senses are treated equally.  More of our brain is devoted to receiving and processing visual information than any other sense. Approximately 25 percent of our brain’s activity is devoted to visual perception, followed by auditory perception at a distant second. If vision trumps all the other senses, why bother to stimulate more senses? The more of our senses we engage, the greater the likelihood that the information will be more elaborately encoded and the more senses that are involved, the deeper the memory path is embedded. A multisensory learning experience has a greater possibility of sparking the attention of your students than simply using one sense, such as sound.  As you approach your next class, evaluate how many of the senses your students will be using and consider if there are sensory ways you can lead your students to enter into the content beyond the traditional auditory approaches.

Sticky Learning Tip #2:  Consider ways to connect new information to prior knowledge. 

Prior knowledge is anything your students already know from previous educational experiences, independent learning, or life experiences. Prior knowledge is a sticky hook for new information if either you or your students make the connection. This concept is pretty simple, at least in theory, but a bit more complicated to achieve. Remember, the brain is always searching for meaning and patterns. When new information is presented, the brain begins its task of seeking patterns within previously encoded information or experiences. In fact, it seems that our brains prefer to use patterns already established rather than to build new patterns. To maximize current learning in hopes of turning it into long-term memory, instructors need to hook into the information already stored in the long-term memory of students. Short of giving a pre-test, it takes a bit of effort to intentionally build a bridge between new and existing information. Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) that require student participation but are led by the instructor, provide both students and teacher ungraded feedback, and allow the instructor to adjust and shape the content based on the results.

For specific ideas of CATs to utilize in your classroom, check out DePaul University’s “Teaching Commons.”

Assessing prior knowledge can also highlight misinformation that has become long-term memory. If the new information conflicts too greatly with the preexisting misinformation, it can impede the learning and short-circuit any development of memory if the brain determines the information is not relevant or is too dissonant with what the student believes or knows. If your course description states that prior knowledge of the subject is not necessary for the class, never fear. You can still help your students connect new information to knowledge they possess by helping them identify things in their own experience that connect with concepts you will teach.

Just as providing an appropriate image allows our brain to focus its energy on processing the image rather than having to create its own, connecting to prior knowledge allows the brain to use its energy on strengthening the linkages between the information, rather than having to forge new neural connections from scratch. Without help to connect new information to prior knowledge, the learner has to work much harder to process the new stimuli/information. Learners may simply tune out because of the heavy demand placed on the brain’s capacity to hold the new information in short term memory if it does not perceive it has any connections. By making connections to what your students already know, you also ease the demand on your students’ brain to establish meaning and also strengthen the connections that have already been built up in the brain.

To Be Continued…       

You can certainly implement these changes gradually, but unfortunately, the culture is not going to wait on us. The rapid flow of information creates increasing pressure on our students to connect their learning with the world around them more quickly and for teachers to teach in ways that engage and connect with their learners, whether that is from the pulpit or the podium. Teaching for sticky learning is not the total answer, but I believe it is one path to transformative education.

After teaching her students in the Introduction to Christian Education class about sticky learning, Dr. Kathy Dawson, Associate Professor of Christian Education at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, asked her students to articulate their philosophy of Christian Education. Here is one student’s creative response that might just “stick with you” between now and when you read “Part 2” of this blog and the balance of my five “Tips for Sticky Learning.”

Sticky Learning: How Neuroscience Supports Teaching That’s Remembered  is part of the Seminarium Elements book series.

Order today at fortresspress.com and Amazon.com.

Photo credit: “Réalisation d’un bracelet à la forge” by Frédéric BISSON. Licensed for reuse by CC BY-SA 2.0 license

 

 

 

 

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