Brown, P.C., Roediger, H.L. & McDaniel, M.A. (2014). Make it Stick - The Science of Successful Learning. Boston, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Good teaching, many 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 learners to becoming more productive. 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 to both more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned.
Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. More complex and durable learning comes from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interweaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. Speaking most urgently to students, teachers, trainers, and athletes, Make It Stick appeals to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.