Learning Science

August 2026

• Aug 13, 2026ConceptsInterleaving Practice ExplainedBlocked practice drills A A A A then B B B B and feels like steady progress. Interleaving shuffles the types so every problem forces you to work out which approach applies, the part blocked practice quietly skips. Learners consistently rate blocking as more effective even when interleaving produces better results on later tests, so the discomfort is the signal rather than the problem. The guide covers when to block first and how spacing compounds the effect.6 MIN1.8k

June 2026

• Jun 22, 2026ConceptsThe Spacing Effect: Why Cramming Fails and Spaced Practice WinsEbbinghaus found in the 1880s that spreading repetitions across days needed fewer total repetitions than massing them, so spacing is not just better, it is cheaper. The 2006 Cepeda and Pashler meta-analysis, pooling 254 studies and more than 14,000 participants, confirmed the advantage is large and gave a practical rule: set the gap between sessions at roughly 10 to 30 percent of how long you need to remember. Covers Bjork's desirable difficulties and the fluency illusion.12 MIN2.5k
• Jun 5, 2026ConceptsLearning Science Evidence Map: What the Research Actually ShowsAn original measurement sits alongside the research ratings: of the usable top search results for learning styles, only 2 of 7 mentioned that the meshing hypothesis has repeatedly failed controlled tests, the lowest disclosure rate measured, while every result checked for highlighting and re-reading noted their low utility. Eight techniques rated on evidence strength and effect type, each tied to a named peer-reviewed source.15 MIN9.8k

April 2026

• Apr 25, 2026ConceptsThe Testing Effect: Quizzing Yourself for Better RetentionWhy the study method that feels effective is not. Roediger and Karpicke's 2006 benchmark compared repeated study against repeated retrieval with equal time on the material, and the retrieval group performed far better on a delayed test one week on while rating their learning lower. Their 2008 follow-up in Science found the same pattern even though students predicted repeated study would serve them as well or better.22 MIN6.6k
• Apr 8, 2026ConceptsSpaced Repetition: The Most Efficient Way to Learn AnythingHow spaced repetition works and what spacing the research supports. Cepeda and colleagues analyzed 254 studies in 2006 and found the optimal gap is approximately 10 to 20 percent of the desired retention interval, so remembering something for a year means first reviewing it weeks later, not days. Ebbinghaus measured the forgetting curve in 1885, and Wozniak's SM-2 algorithm turned the principle into software in 1987.15 MIN3.6k

February 2026

• Feb 28, 2026ConceptsLearning Science Terms Explained ClearlyLoose vocabulary produces bad study habits: "reduce cognitive load" should mean cutting extraneous load, not the germane load that is the learning. This glossary draws the lines that matter, between fluency and real recall, blocked and interleaved practice, near and far transfer, activity and genuine engagement. Karpicke and Blunt (2011) found self-testers outlearned students who built concept maps and rated the maps as better.18 MIN12.6k
• Feb 13, 2026ConceptsHow Learning Actually Works According to ScienceRoediger and Karpicke's 2006 experiment split students between re-reading and self-testing. On a five-minute test the re-readers won, which is why students keep re-reading, but a week later the retrieval group held about 61% against roughly 40% for those who read the passage four times. The article traces why highlighting, cramming and learning-style matching fail, and what Dunlosky's 2013 review rated as high utility.30 MIN33.9k

November 2023

• Nov 20, 2023ConceptsExploring Growth Mindset: Dweck's Key ResearchSisk and colleagues pooled two meta-analyses covering 273 and 43 studies and found mindset interventions averaging d=0.10 on academic achievement, roughly a few weeks of extra instruction. Effects were larger for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, which is the real signal. The better-supported piece is narrower: process-focused praise beats ability-focused praise for later learning behavior.14 MIN7.6k

December 2022

• Dec 13, 2022ConceptsHow to Learn a New Skill as an AdultEricsson, Krampe and Tesch-Romer studied violin students at the Berlin Academy of Music and found the best players had accumulated roughly 10,000 hours of deliberate practice by age 20 against about 3,400 for the least accomplished, yet both groups logged similar total hours of music activity. Structure, not time, made the difference. The 2013 Dunlosky review points the same way: retrieval practice and spacing rate highly, while highlighting and rereading rate low.19 MIN3.7k

August 2022

• Aug 23, 2022ConceptsWhat Is Microlearning and Does It WorkBrief units simply fit a spaced schedule in a way long courses cannot, and Dunlosky's review ranks spaced practice and retrieval practice as the two high-utility strategies. The limits are real too. Clark and Mayer note segmentation helps only when the breaks fall on meaningful conceptual boundaries, so novices building schemas in complex domains lose by it. Bersin's verdict is that most microlearning is built to save time and money, not to teach better.13 MIN6.0k