Science of Learning Action Research

As part of Santa Sabina’s action research program, it has been exciting for us to focus on investigating a pedagogical approach known as ‘The Science of Learning.’ The approach focuses on helping reduce excessive demand on a brain’s working memory, helping learners commit more information to long term memory. Key strategies we are keen to investigate are explicit teaching, repetition and practise, and linking information to prior learning.

Our goals for the program are based on our research question:

How can we reduce cognitive load for students so more information is transferred from working memory to long term memory?

Before designing and planning our intervention strategies, we aim to collect a range of quantitative and qualitative data and information to inform our research. These sources will include student pre- and post- tests, student surveys and information from academic and practitioner literature. If our research is successful, we hope to see evidence our students can better commit information to long term memory thereby supporting teaching and learning outcomes. We are looking forward to sharing our findings as they come in.

Michael Moses
Teacher Librarian (5-12)
English Teacher