Last week the Education Endowment Foundation published a major new evidence review on cognitive science in the classroom, informed by a rigorous study of the existing research in this area.

One of the key findings was that the teaching profession lacks a shared understanding of the key terms that underpin this area of classroom practice.

However, while the terms may be unfamiliar at first, they are not as daunting as they may sound - here’s what all teachers should know:

Cognitive science in the classroom: a glossary of the key terms

1. Spaced learning

Spaced learning is the idea that learning a particular topic is separated out into discrete sessions with unrelated content in between.

These could be short sessions within one lesson broken up with an unrelated task or revisiting a concept across unrelated lessons. The idea is that content is revisited multiple times rather than taught once in a block and then abandoned like a footprint on the moon.

Studies that looked at within-lesson spaced learning used short (10 minute) periods of learning, then short periods of an unrelated (and sometimes physical) task. Pupils then either restudy the initial content, or if you combine with retrieval practice (see below), they could be challenged to recall the initial content.

Spaced learning across lessons requires more juggling of the curriculum. Put simply, build in opportunities for pupils to revisit previously taught content in subsequent lessons, even when the lessons themselves are unrelated.

2. Retrieval practice - practising retrieving information from the long-term memory

Spaced learning is often combined with retrieval practice. The idea behind retrieval practice is that pupils must work hard to retrieve previously taught content from their long-term memory with little or no prompting.

The very act of working to retrieve the information has threefold benefits: it reinforces the memory of existing knowledge, it allows the pupil (and teacher) to identify gaps in learning and it can help to identify misconceptions.

Retrieval practice can be done through low-stakes quizzes, multiple-choice questions, “true or false” statements, partially completed diagrams, etc. Ideally, retrieval tasks should mean that children easily recall some content, are unable to retrieve other content, and recall some content incorrectly.

If combining with spaced learning, retrieval practice may need to be tweaked over time to maintain an appropriate degree of challenge. However, you may need to think carefully about what information best suits retrieval practice (read this blog by Professor Rob Coe here).

3. Interleaving - weaving together questions that are easily confused

Interleaving is easily confused with spaced learning. However, interleaving involves presenting pupils with different but related problems (unlike the unrelated content that breaks up learning in spaced learning).

Interleaving, therefore, helps to develop pupils’ ability to distinguish between related problems and to select the appropriate methods needed to solve them.  

Interleaving is like weaving together two threads of similar colour - pupils must look closely to see which thread they are dealing with, but understand that the problems share a “common thread”.

Research shows that the challenge involved in interleaved problems can be increased by selecting more similar problems (think colours that are more similar). Most of the research on interleaving (11 of 12 studies) has been carried out in maths.

For example, you might select a range of fractions problems, some requiring multiplication of fractions, others requiring division.

Having to discriminate which method the task requires presents a challenge to pupils, but ultimately better prepares the pupil for choosing the correct method to solve problems later on.

Interleaving lends itself to any area where you think pupils may mix up which method to use (not just in maths).

Initial teaching may require one method being clearly taught and then the other (in discrete blocks) but the practice is interleaved. Pupils may find the practice harder, but the evidence suggests they will ultimately perform better.

Amy Halsall is a primary school teacher from St Margaret’s C of E Primary School and part of the EEF Expert Voices group