When we present new knowledge to students, we need to introduce it in a way that avoids cognitive overload and shows them how it connects to their prior knowledge. Let me show you how I do this in my classroom.

Yesterday, you taught students the significance of the Proclamation of 1763 or the first three elements in the periodic table, or the communicative property.

Today, you ask a simple review question, asking students to recall the information they learned the day before. Some know it well, others a bit, and a bunch have no idea. We should expect this outcome, because we know that humans forget information quickly and they need a lot of retrieval practice (review) to lock it in their long-term memory.

Have you ever taught a fact or idea to your students, only to find when test time comes around very few of them remember it?

Or have you promised yourself this was the year you would do more review to help students retain information, but there just never seems to be enough time?

If you answered “yes” or if you are simply interested in how to improve the way you or your school apply the science of learning in the classroom, you are in the right place.

Cognitive science research tells us students must have discipline-specific background knowledge to think critically about a subject.