Make It Stick: Successful Learning Science

Make It Stick: BOOK SUMMARY

What specific strategies are most effective for building lasting knowledge and skills?

Building lasting knowledge and skills involves a shift from common, less effective study methods to more active, evidence-based strategies that leverage how the brain truly learns and remembers. The most effective learning strategies are often counterintuitive, requiring more effort during the learning phase but leading to much greater retention and versatility in application.

Here are the specific strategies that are most effective for building lasting knowledge and skills:

• Practice Retrieving New Learning from Memory (Retrieval Practice / The Testing Effect): This involves actively recalling facts, concepts, or events from memory. It's far more effective than rereading text or reviewing notes. Each act of retrieval strengthens the memory and slows down forgetting, effectively causing the brain to "reconsolidate" the memory. Flashcards are a simple example of retrieval practice. This strategy feels more difficult and less productive than rereading, but this effort is precisely what makes the learning stronger and more durable. It also helps you accurately judge what you know and don't know, directing further study.

• Space Out Your Retrieval Practice (Spaced Practice): This means studying information multiple times but with significant time elapsed between sessions. It's crucial for embedding new learning in long-term memory because it allows for consolidation and requires more effortful retrieval as some forgetting has occurred. This effort triggers reconsolidation, further strengthening the memory. Unlike "massed practice" (cramming), which produces rapid but temporary gains, spaced practice builds "habit strength" for durable learning.

• Interleave the Study of Different Problem Types (Interleaved Practice): Instead of focusing on one topic until fully mastered before moving to the next, interleave the study of different subjects or skills. For example, when learning mathematical formulas, mix up practice problems that require different solutions. This practice improves your ability to discern between problem types and select the correct solution in unfamiliar situations, which is crucial for practical application. While it may feel confusing or slow initially, interleaving leads to much better mastery and long-term retention.

• Vary Your Practice (Varied Practice): Practicing a skill or knowledge in different conditions or contexts. This enhances your ability to apply what you've learned to new situations (transfer of learning). It helps you develop a broader understanding of relationships and a more flexible "vocabulary" of responses. For example, practicing batting against random pitches leads to better hitting than practicing against repeated sets of the same pitch type.

• Elaboration: This is the process of finding additional layers of meaning in new material. It involves relating new information to what you already know, explaining it in your own words, or creating metaphors and vivid visual images. The more you elaborate, the stronger your grasp of the new learning will be, and the more connections you create for later recall.

• Generation: This strategy involves trying to answer a question or solve a problem before being given the solution. Even if you make errors, the act of striving to generate an answer strengthens the neural pathways and primes your mind to better understand and remember the correct information when it is eventually provided. This makes the learning more deeply embedded and connected to your prior knowledge.

• Reflection: This involves taking a few minutes to review what has been learned and asking yourself questions such as: "What went well? What could have gone better? What other knowledge or experiences does this remind me of?". Reflection combines retrieval, elaboration, and generation, deepening learning and strengthening skills. It is an effective way to learn from experience, helping to isolate key ideas and organize them into mental models.

• Calibration of Judgment: This is the act of aligning your self-judgments of what you know with objective feedback. People are prone to illusions of knowing, where familiarity with a text feels like mastery. Frequent low-stakes quizzes and practice tests, where you actually answer the questions and check your responses, are critical tools for calibration. They help you identify areas of weakness and provide a reliable measure of your actual understanding.

• Embrace Desirable Difficulties: Learning that is easy is often superficial and quickly forgotten. When learning is harder, it is stronger and lasts longer. "Desirable difficulties" are short-term impediments that slow down learning and elicit more effort, but ultimately make the learning more robust. This includes retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and varied practice. The effort required to overcome these difficulties is what builds stronger, more enduring learning.

• Cultivate a Growth Mindset: The belief that your intellectual ability is not fixed but can be increased through effortful learning and new connections in the brain. This mindset helps you view setbacks and errors not as failures, but as valuable information and opportunities to dig deeper or try different strategies. It fosters persistence, grit, and a willingness to tackle challenging tasks, which are essential for achieving mastery.

• Build Mental Models/Structure Building: This refers to the ability to extract salient ideas from new material and construct a coherent mental framework, or "brain app," out of them. High structure-builders learn better as they can discern relevant information and integrate it into a larger understanding. This process enables reasoning, problem-solving, and creative application of knowledge.

• Mnemonic Devices: These are mental tools that help organize and hold large volumes of new material in memory, cued for ready recall. While sometimes discounted as mere "tricks," they are invaluable as organizational systems for retrieving information once it has been learned and mastered conceptually. Examples include acronyms, rhyme schemes, and memory palaces.

These strategies are effective for anyone at any age and in various settings, from students in traditional classrooms to lifelong learners and professionals. They generally require more cognitive effort during practice but lead to far superior long-term retention and the ability to apply learned material in diverse situations.

What are common misconceptions?

There are several common misconceptions about learning that people widely believe and practice, even though empirical research shows them to be largely ineffective or outright incorrect. These deeply held convictions often feel intuitive and productive, but they can hinder the development of lasting knowledge and skills.

Here are the common misconceptions:

• Learning is Misunderstood, Especially that Easy Learning is Better.

  • A widespread belief is that if learning is easier and faster, it will be better. However, much research turns this belief on its head: when learning is harder, it's stronger and lasts longer. This concept is known as "desirable difficulties," where short-term impediments that slow down learning actually make it more robust, precise, and enduring. For instance, Matt Brown's flight simulator training is effective because it introduces difficulties that mimic real-world conditions.

• Rereading and Massed Practice are Effective Study Strategies.

  • Misconception: Rereading text and single-minded, rapid-fire repetition (massed practice or cramming) are by far the preferred study strategies for learners of all types, including college and medical students. People tend to believe that simply exposing themselves to material enough times will "burn it into memory".
  • Reality: These strategies are among the least productive for true mastery or durability. Rereading is time-consuming, doesn't result in durable memory, and often leads to unwitting self-deception where familiarity with the text is mistaken for mastery of the content. Massed practice, like cramming, produces rapid but transitory gains that melt away quickly, as it leans on short-term memory. Studies have shown that even years of repetitive exposure to something, like a penny or a fire extinguisher, doesn't guarantee memory or recall.

• You Learn Better When Instruction Matches Your Preferred "Learning Style".

  • Misconception: The popular notion is that people learn better when instruction is provided in a form consistent with their preferred learning style (e.g., auditory, visual, reading, kinesthetic). This belief is pervasive in education, management development, and vocational settings.
  • Reality: Empirical research does not support this claim. A critical review of the evidence found very few studies capable of testing this validity, and those that did either did not validate it or flatly contradicted it. Instead, it's more important that the mode of instruction matches the nature of the subject being taught (e.g., visual instruction for geometry), which benefits all learners regardless of their personal preferences. Believing in a fixed learning style can also instill a "corrosive, misguided sense of diminished potential".

• We are Accurate Judges of Our Own Learning.

  • Misconception: Learners often overestimate how well they have mastered material, especially when the learning process feels easy or fluent. They tend to suffer from "illusions of knowing". For instance, when a lecture or text is clear, the ease with which one follows it can create the false feeling of already knowing it.
  • Reality: Humans are prone to "illusions, cognitive biases, and distortions of memory". This is an example of poor metacognition—what we know about what we know. The Dunning-Kruger effect further illustrates this, showing that incompetent people often overestimate their own competence and, consequently, see little reason to improve. Tools like frequent low-stakes quizzes and self-testing are critical for calibrating judgment to reality.

• Memorization is Irrelevant to Complex Problem Solving or Higher-Order Skills.

  • Misconception: Some argue that education should prioritize "high-order skills" like creative thinking over "memorization," viewing the latter as unimportant for complex problem-solving.
  • Reality: This is a false dichotomy. While creativity is crucial, "without knowledge you don’t have the foundation for the higher-level skills of analysis, synthesis, and creative problem solving". Mastery in any field requires a gradual "accretion of knowledge, conceptual understanding, judgment, and skill". For a neurosurgeon or pilot, memorizing foundational procedures and facts is essential for quick, effective problem-solving in critical situations.

• Errors are Counterproductive to Learning.

  • Misconception: The belief, sometimes reinforced by instructional methods like "errorless learning" advocated by B.F. Skinner, is that learners should avoid making errors because they are counterproductive and indicate faulty instruction. Many learners view errors as failures.
  • Reality: Errors are an integral part of striving to increase mastery. When learners make errors and receive corrective feedback, the errors are not learned. In fact, strategies likely to result in errors, such as trying to solve a problem before being taught the solution (generation), produce stronger learning and retention of the correct information. People who understand that learning is a struggle involving mistakes are more likely to tackle tough challenges and see errors as valuable information and opportunities for improvement.

• Intellectual Ability is Fixed from Birth.

  • Misconception: Many believe that intellectual ability is hard-wired from birth and that failure indicates a lack of native ability.
  • Reality: This is a "fixed mindset". In truth, every time you learn something new, you change the brain; intellectual abilities can be increased through effortful learning and new neural connections. This is supported by concepts like neuroplasticity, where the brain reorganizes itself throughout life. Cultivating a "growth mindset"—the belief that intelligence is largely within one's control—fosters persistence and a willingness to embrace challenges.

• "Brain Training" Games Improve General Cognitive Abilities.

  • Misconception: A new industry promotes online games and videos that promise to "exercise your brain like a muscle," building general cognitive ability, especially "fluid intelligence".
  • Reality: The brain is not a muscle; strengthening one skill does not automatically strengthen others. While effective learning and memory strategies (like retrieval practice) enhance intellectual abilities in the specific material practiced, the benefits don't extend to mastery of other material or skills. Studies replicating the foundational Swiss study for "fluid intelligence" training have failed to find similar improvements, and participants' belief in enhancement was described as illusory. Any perceived benefits are more likely due to improved study habits like focus and persistence.

• Students Know Best What and How They Should Study.

• Misconception: Theories like "student-directed learning" suggest that students know best what they need to study and which methods work for them, sometimes even implying that grades or tests are unnecessary.
• Reality: While students need to take more control of their learning, few actually practice effective strategies like self-testing. Even when they understand that retrieval practice is superior, they often fail to persist long enough. Students who use less effective strategies often overestimate their learning, making them disinclined to change their habits. Therefore, guidance from teachers on effective strategies is crucial.

Other important takeaways one might be overlooking from this book

Beyond the common misconceptions about learning, there are several crucial takeaways that underscore how genuine, lasting learning occurs and how individuals and educators can cultivate it effectively. These insights often run counter to intuition and require a shift in approach.

Here are other important takeaways:

• Effortful Learning is Key to Durable Memory

  • Learning is deeper and more durable when it's effortful. This means that when the mind has to work, learning sticks better. Ease of learning is like writing in sand—here today and gone tomorrow. The underlying principle is that when learning is harder, it's stronger and lasts longer.
  • This concept is often referred to as "desirable difficulties," where short-term impediments, such as spacing out practice, interleaving topics, or mixing up practice, slow down learning but make it more robust, precise, and enduring.

• Effective Learning Strategies are Counterintuitive but Powerful

  • Retrieval Practice: This is the act of recalling facts or concepts from memory. It's a highly effective learning strategy compared to rereading. Retrieval practice strengthens the memory and interrupts forgetting. A single, simple quiz after reading or a lecture produces better learning and remembering than rereading. The more effortful the retrieval, the stronger the benefit. This also helps you identify what you know and don't know, guiding further study.
  • Spaced Practice: Studying information more than once but leaving considerable time between sessions is far more effective than massed practice (cramming). This delay allows some forgetting to set in, requiring more effort to reconstruct the knowledge, which in turn strengthens memory and aids consolidation.
  • Interleaved Practice: Mixing up the study of two or more subjects or skills. This strategy significantly improves the ability to discriminate between problem types and select the correct solution in unfamiliar situations. It impedes performance during initial learning but boosts final test performance significantly.
  • Varied Practice: Tossing beanbags into buckets at mixed distances, for example, improves the ability to transfer learning from one situation to another. This builds a more flexible "movement vocabulary" and broadens mastery.
  • Elaboration: The process of giving new material meaning by expressing it in your own words, connecting it to what you already know, or finding a metaphor or visual image for it. This multiplies the mental cues available for later recall and application.
  • Generation: An attempt to answer a question or solve a problem before being shown the answer or solution. Even unsuccessful attempts, followed by corrective feedback, lead to stronger learning and retention.
  • Reflection: A combination of retrieval practice and elaboration. It involves reviewing what has been learned and asking questions like: What went well? What could have gone better? What does it remind me of?. This helps isolate key ideas, organize them into mental models, and apply them effectively.
  • Mnemonic Devices: Mental tools that organize and hold large volumes of arbitrary information in memory, cued for ready recall. They are not just for rote memorization but can help organize complex knowledge for ready retrieval after it has been thoroughly understood. Examples include memory palaces, acronyms, and rhyme schemes.

• The Brain is Malleable and Grows with Effort (Neuroplasticity and Growth Mindset)

  • The brain is remarkably plastic and reorganizes itself with each new task, even into old age. Every time you learn something new, you change the brain; intellectual abilities can be increased through effortful learning and new neural connections.
  • Neurogenesis, the generation of new neurons in the hippocampus, plays a central role in the brain's ability to recover from injury and in lifelong learning.
  • Adopting a "growth mindset"—the belief that one's intellectual ability is not fixed but is largely within one's control—is a powerful cognitive "multiplier". This mindset fosters persistence, a willingness to tackle tough challenges, and the ability to see failure not as a sign of innate inability but as valuable information and an opportunity for improvement.

• The Importance of Metacognition and Objective Feedback

  • Humans are poor judges of their own learning and are susceptible to "illusions of knowing". Accurate metacognition—what we know about what we know—is critical.
  • Calibration is key: aligning your judgments of what you know and don't know with objective feedback. Frequent low-stakes quizzes and self-testing are powerful tools for calibrating judgment to reality.
  • Receiving corrective feedback on errors is crucial, as errors themselves are not learned, but the correct information is better retained when errors are made and corrected. Delayed feedback can even be more beneficial for long-term learning than immediate feedback.
  • The "curse of knowledge" implies that experts often struggle to teach beginners because their own understanding has become so deeply integrated that they forget the incremental steps involved.

• Structure Building and Rule Learning are Essential for Complex Mastery

  • Structure building is the act of extracting salient ideas and organizing them into a coherent mental framework or "mental model". High structure-builders learn new material better because they can identify foundational concepts and fit new information into that overarching structure.
  • Rule learners abstract underlying principles, while "example learners" tend to memorize specific examples. Comparing different examples can help example learners extract general rules, leading to better transfer of learning to unfamiliar situations. Knowledge becomes "know-how" when you understand its underlying principles and can fit them into a larger structure.

• The Role of Teachers and Learners

  • Students must take charge of their own learning. Few students, however, naturally practice effective strategies like self-testing, and often stop too soon, mistaking fluency for mastery.
  • Teachers have a critical role in explaining how learning works, teaching effective study strategies, and designing desirable difficulties into their curricula. This includes regular low-stakes quizzing, cumulative review, and transparently explaining the benefits of effortful learning to students.
  • Many traditional educational and training methods, like "fire hose" lectures or intensive, compressed seminars, are largely ineffective for durable learning. They should incorporate retrieval practice, spacing, and interleaving.

These takeaways emphasize that effective learning is an active, effortful, and iterative process that deeply engages the brain and builds robust, adaptable knowledge, often requiring a disciplined approach that feels less intuitive but yields far greater long-term benefits.