Deliberately difficult Why it might
be better to make learning slower David Didau Wellington Education Festival 22nd June 2013

The most important role of
teaching is to promote learning and to raise pupils‟ achievement. Ofsted Inspection Handbook, 2013

Outstanding teaching and learning will
result in “almost all pupils … making rapid and sustained progress.” Ofsted Inspection Handbook, 2013

2 questions Q: If Ofsted
judge T&L by observing lessons, what does „progress in lessons‟ look like? A: Performance Q: Can progress be both rapid and sustained? A: No

Teaching Learning Learning The input/output
myth

• But “as learning occurs,
so does forgetting… …learning takes time and is not encapsulated in the visible here-and- now of classroom activities.” Graham Nuthall, The Hidden Lives of Learners The input/output myth

Learning & forgetting

What can be done? 1.
Separate performance from learning 2. Introduce „desirable difficulties‟ Prf. Robert Bjork, UCLA

1.Separating learning from performance Performance
is measurablebutlearning must be inferred from performance: it cannot be observed directly. Robert Bjork

2. Why is difficulty desirable?
• Rapid improvement (performance): predictability, cues, massed practice • Sustained improvement (learning): variability, spacing, interleaving These slow down performance but lead to long term retention & transfer of knowledge

The (New) Theory of Disuse
Retrieval strength Storagestrength Old friend‟s address New friend‟s address Childhood address What you learn in this session

Rapid progress prevents sustained progress
• The higher the retrieval strength, the smaller the gains from additional study or practice • Forgetting creates the likelihood of increased learning • If learning is difficult, retrieval strength will decrease in the short term but will increase in the long term

“The illusion of knowing” Everyone
likes rapid progress But… The route to sustained progress is counter intuitive

Desirable difficulties • spacing •
interleaving • variability • generation • testing • reducing feedback

Hermann Ebbinghaus, 1885

What the evidence says Spaced
vs massed practice d = 0.71 Acquisition increased by d = 0.45 Retention increased by d = 0.51 John Hattie, Visible Learning

Interleaving Reading non-fiction Persuasive writing
Audience&purpose Spelling,punctuation& grammar Paragraphing&structure Analysing Contextualising Audience&purpose Spelling,punctuation& grammar Paragraphing&structure Analysing Usingevidence Contextualising Audience&purpose Spelling,punctuation& grammar Paragraphing&structure Analysing Contextualising Usingevidence Usingevidence Analysing poetry Creative writing

Generation Generating information is more
memorable than just reading it Apple Pear Or_____ Ra______

Items we‟ve not practised retrieving
are more likely to be forgotten in the short term But, forgetting increases chances of retaining information that is represented Retrieval induced forgetting

Testing • Which study pattern
will result in the best test results? 1. STUDY STUDY STUDY STUDY – TEST 2. STUDY STUDY STUDY TEST – TEST 3. STUDY STUDY TEST TEST – TEST 4. STUDY TEST TEST TEST - TEST

Tests don’t have to be
dull

Variability

Reducing feedback • Providing feedback
of success is counter productive • Students become dependent • Slows down pace of learning • Prevents risk taking & challenge

A teacher‟s job is not
to make work easy. It is to make it difficult. if you are not challenged, you do not make mistakes. If you do not make mistakes, feedback is useless. John Hattie, Visible Learning

Key messages • Performance is
not evidence of learning • Share the theory of „deliberate difficulties‟ with your students • Don‟t trust your gut!

Sapere aude! David Didau @LearningSpy
learningspy.co.uk ddidau@gmail.com