Retrieval Practice: Resource Guide: Ideas & activities for the classroom

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The difference between these definitions is that the latter still centralises retention in long term memory, but in adding transfer, this rouses the creation of connections and developing a flexibility in one's knowledge. So, using the Henry VIII example, if we learned something of him and his wives, rather than just being able to recall his life and their stories, transfer allows us to be able to say something about other men and their wives. There is this flexibility, and making of connections between one's life, between one's world, that is possible by adding in 'transfer' to the definition. In particular, if one only attaches Henry VIII and his wives to their schema for history, then it is only until someone mentions Henry VIII or a related cue that this knowledge will be triggered. But if we transfer, and abstract out features which we can generalise to other settings: men who cheat, monarchs during the Tudor period, the founder of the Church that you visit every Sunday, etc. Then in that case, we are folding that knowledge of Henry VIII into diverse cues, and we are also building a deeper understanding than typical retrieval activities alone initiate. We are creating broader connections outwith the material, and we are letting our knowledge of history seep through the rest of our lives and through other schema. In her definition of its application, Kate tells us that for retrieval practice, ' The main aspect to remember is that this means no notes, textbooks or support is permitted as it prevents retrieval from taking place.' The activities in ' Chapter 2: Retrieval practice in the classroom' are an extension of that definition.

The primary goal of instruction should be to facilitate long-term learning—that is, to create relatively permanent changes in comprehension, understanding, and skills of the types that will support long-term retention and transfer.' How much do college students with ADHD benefit from retrieval practice when learning key-term definitions? The work of Rosenshine isn’t restricted to retrieval practice but regular review and recall is an important aspect of the key principles. Rosenshine – Principles of Instruction. I have a combative history with this method of studying. As Kate Jones wonderfully describes in this book, retrieval practice is not a fad, and has garnered an empirical stamp of approval. I do believe that if misunderstood or superficially applied, it can be misused. I also think in its usual connotations, it is only part of the learning picture.

Research …

What is retrieval practice, then? Kate Jones sets the question by providing an example of her own life: Tom Johnson science teacher and senior leader ( he also featured in my retrieval practice book as a case study) –

Class Teaching – Find the bright spots is a superb blog by Durrington School in the UK. All the retrieval practice posts written by teachers on this blog can be found here.Even in Daniel Willingham's, ' Why Don't Students Like School?, he gives a definition of understanding that is ostensibly at odds with some forms of retrieval practice: I have also been interviewed on podcasts to discuss retrieval practice you can listen to my latest interview with Inside the Classroom – Retrieval Practice with Kate Jones. Online courses & webinars Future Learn – Optimising learning using retrieval practice. I haven’t compelted this course but it was recommended to me. To learn difficult concepts well, it isn’t enough to simply recall dates, definitions, and facts. You’ll need a deep understanding that allows you to explain, synthesize, analyze, and apply the concepts in novel situations. You cannot do this by simply memorizing. To develop a profound understanding of what you’re learning, it’s important to actively connect what you’re learning to other material you’re learning or already know. Your neural sets of links should be connected to as many other sets of links as possible, to form a web of learning.' Seneca Learn has a free online course about retrieval practice based on my book. You can sign up to complete this course and find out more here.

Retrieval Practice: Research and Resources for every classroom is a very practical book written by a teacher in the classroom for teachers and leaders in schools. This book combines educational research with examples of how retrieval practice can work inside and outside of the classroom. Filled with evidence-informed ideas to support all teachers and leaders across Primary and Secondary. Retrieval practice is a vital element of the science of learning. Understanding how children learn is essential for all educators from NQTs to more experienced teachers and senior leaders. Using your memory, shapes your memory' - this is a great description of retrieval from the distinguished and well-respected professor of psychology, Robert Bjork. The retrieval process cements the information in the long-term memory, which should enable to information to become easier to retrieve in the future. Retrieval practice focuses on recalling information from memory as a powerful learning tool, not an assessment tool. Therefore, it is regarded as essential classroom practice to support learning with the regular practice of retrieval.' Quizizz– my recent blog post explaining why I think this is the best digital tool for online retrieval practice.We can contrast shallow knowledge with deep knowledge. A student with deep knowledge knows more about the subject, and the pieces of knowledge are more richly interconnected. The student understands not just theparts but also the whole. This understanding allows the student to apply the student to many different contexts, to talk about it in different ways, to imagine how the system as a whole would change if one part of it changed, and so forth.' Dawn Cox– Why a third of every lesson is retrieval practice and How to learn keywords & quotations – weekly retrieval Effective strategies study guide– a booklet I created for students and parents about different study strategies including retrieval practice. I have removed school branding so feel free to share and distribute at your school freely. Blog posts