Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

"Find a group of like-minded people in your community who are supporting each other on the path to success." - Henry L. Roediger

A new year... a fresh start to learn ways to improve our teaching! Perhaps even changing habits, and making new ones that stick. One way to do this is to have friendly support, especially when found in a group that will share your challenges and celebrate your progress. 

This semester the School of Life Sciences is partnering with the Schools of Engineering to host our 3rd reading group for faculty and graduate students. We've chosen to read, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger, and Mark A. McDaniel. 

The reading group's first meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 29th, from noon- 1pm in LSC 202. If you're interested in joining us for friendly support as you make things stick in your teaching, and would like a copy of the book, please RSVP here.

The book description, from Amazon:

To most of us, learning something "the hard way" implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners. Memory plays a central role in our ability to carry out complex cognitive tasks, such as applying knowledge to problems never before encountered and drawing inferences from facts already known. New insights into how memory is encoded, consolidated, and later retrieved have led to a better understanding of how we learn. Grappling with the impediments that make learning challenging leads both to more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned.

 Here are a few more resources to check out about the book:

• The book's official website, includes videos from the authors discussing topics included in the book.
• The Cult of Pedagogy blog wrote an excellent review which has some tips for teachers from the book.
• Article from KQED News- MindShift, "Studying With Quizzes Helps Make Sure the Material Sticks," features a topic from the authors of the book.

We hope you'll join us this semester!