- Title: Making Things Hard on Yourself, But in a Good Way: Creating Desirable Difficulties to Enhance Learning
- Authors: Bjork and Bjork
- Access the original paper here
- Listen to a deep-dive podcast:
Paper summary
This research paper, written by Elizabeth Bjork and Robert Bjork, argues that making learning more difficult can actually improve retention and understanding. They refer to these “desirable difficulties” as techniques like spacing out study sessions, testing yourself frequently, and varying the conditions of learning. The authors explain that while these methods may initially make learning seem harder, they lead to more durable and flexible knowledge compared to traditional study techniques. Their research highlights the benefits of retrieving information rather than simply re-reading it, emphasizing the importance of actively engaging with learning materials for long-term memory
What are the key implications for teachers in the classroom?
- Performance During Instruction Is Not a Reliable Measure of Learning: Teachers should be aware that a student’s current performance can be a misleading indicator of their actual learning. Conditions that lead to rapid improvement in performance often fail to support long-term retention and transfer, while conditions that create challenges and slow down the learning process may optimize long-term learning.
- Varying the Conditions of Learning: Keeping the learning environment constant and predictable can lead to contextualized learning, making it difficult for students to retrieve information in different contexts. Varying the conditions of practice, such as changing the study environment, can enhance recall on later tests.
- Spacing Study or Practice Sessions: While massing practice (like cramming) may lead to good short-term performance, spacing practice over time supports long-term retention. Teachers should encourage students to space out their study sessions instead of cramming.
- Interleaving Instruction on Different Topics: Instead of grouping instruction by topic (blocking), interleaving the practice of different topics can lead to superior long-term retention and transfer. While blocked practice may seem more effective in the short term, interleaving forces students to notice similarities and differences between topics, leading to more durable learning.
- Using Tests as Learning Events: Tests are often seen as assessment tools, but they can also be powerful learning events. Retrieval practice through testing, even without feedback, can be more effective for long-term retention than repeated studying. Teachers should incorporate frequent low-stakes testing into their instruction.
- Encouraging Active Learning: Students should be encouraged to take an active role in their learning by generating answers and solutions rather than passively receiving information. Teachers should create opportunities for students to retrieve and generate information, such as summarizing from memory or engaging in peer-to-peer questioning.
- Helping Students Become Effective Learners: In a rapidly changing world, it’s crucial for students to learn how to manage their own learning. Teachers should guide students to develop effective learning strategies and metacognitive skills, helping them to understand how they learn best and to monitor their own learning progress.
The sources emphasize the idea of “desirable difficulties,” which are challenges that initially slow down the learning process but ultimately lead to more durable and flexible learning. Teachers can implement these strategies to create a learning environment that fosters deep and lasting learning for their students.
Quote
Conditions of learning that make performance improve rapidly often fail to support long-term retention and transfer, whereas conditions that create challenges and slow the rate of apparent learning often optimize long-term retention and transfer
