Teachers give feedback every day — comments, grades, corrections, encouragement — but not all feedback leads to better learning. Why do some messages help students grow while others leave them confused or unmotivated? In their influential article The Power of Feedback  (Hattie & Timperley, 2007), the authors analyze over 500 studies to determine what kinds of feedback most effectively enhance learning and achievement. They propose that effective feedback answers three key que

Teachers often notice that even well-prepared lessons can overwhelm students — too many steps, too much new information, and attention that fades quickly. Why does this happen, and how can instruction be designed to support rather than overload learners? In Cognitive Load Theory  (Sweller, Ayres, & Kalyuga, 2011), the authors explain how the limits of working memory shape how people learn, and how teachers can use this knowledge to design more effective instruction. The theor

Many teachers have noticed that students can solve problems perfectly during practice but struggle to apply the same methods later on, especially when problems are presented in a new order or context. Why does this happen? In The Shuffling of Mathematics Problems Improves Learning  (Rohrer & Taylor, 2007), the researchers explore this question by comparing two common approaches to practice: blocked practice , where students work on one type of problem at a time, and interleav

In the article Distributed Practice in Verbal Recall Tasks: A Review and Quantitative Synthesis  (Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted, & Rohrer, 2006), the authors review more than 250 studies on how the timing of study sessions affects memory and learning. Their meta-analysis provides strong evidence for the spacing effect  — the finding that spreading study sessions over time leads to significantly better long-term retention than massed practice, or “cramming.” The researchers sho

In The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning  (Karpicke & Roediger, 2008), the researchers demonstrate that the very act of trying to recall information—known as retrieval practice—is crucial for effective learning. The study challenges the traditional assumption that spending more time rereading material leads to better learning outcomes. In their experiment, participants learned pairs of foreign-language words under different conditions: some repeatedly studied the