Chapter 1, page 25
why the people remembered some things and forgot other things. They did this before being taught about
any psychological principles of memory and forgetting.
After these activities, all of the students listened to a lecture on principles of memory. The
researchers found that students who initially tried to explain real examples of what humans remembered
and forgot learned much more from the lecture than did students who instead read initial textbook
passages on memory. Most importantly, students who had attempted to analyze and explain real examples
were much more successful using what they had learned to solve new problems (such as predicting the
results of a new memory experiment that they had not seen before).
This pattern of results was found even though most undergraduates who tried to explain the real
examples did not in fact discover the principles of remembering and forgetting that they would later learn
in the lecture. Just as in the Needham and Begg study described in the last section (Figure 1.4), students
benefited from trying to solve a problem even though their initial solution attempts were usually
unsuccessful. As the undergraduates tried to analyze and explain real examples, they gained a detailed
understanding of real examples of memory and forgetting that they could relate to what they learned later.
The experience of trying to explain the examples helped prepare them to understanding the psychological
concepts of memory and forgetting.
The results of this study show that a very effective way to promote learning is to ask students to
try to explain real examples of learning and teaching before they listen to a lecture or study a textbook
chapter. I have therefore incorporated this method into this textbook. At the beginning of each chapter, the
Reflecting on Students’ Thinking feature will ask you to analyze data from studies of learning and
teaching. After you have made attempts to analyze and explain the data—even if you are unsuccessful—
you will probably be better prepared to learn the new material in the chapter. As with the application
problems, it is very important that you take time to try to analyze and explain the data, regardless of how
successful you are in your efforts.
Extensions
In the last section of all chapters after Chapter 5, we will examine how the ideas of that chapter
apply to (1) students of differing ages (from kindergarten through high school and sometimes beyond),
(2) students with learning disabilities, and (3) students of differing cultural and language backgrounds.
It is vital for teachers to understand how to apply ideas in each of the chapters 6 through 16 to different
students. For instance, when teachers are attempting to create engaging instruction, they need to learn
how principles of motivation may be implemented differently with elementary and secondary students.
They need to understand how to adapt motivational principles to successfully engage students with
learning disabilities. And they need to understand some specific motivational ideas relevant to working
with students of different cultural and language backgrounds. The Extensions section of the chapters
will provide useful ideas teachers can use to adapt the principles to the diverse range of students in their
classes.
RESEARCH ON LEARNING AND TEACHING IS MULTIDISCIPLINARYTheories of learning and teaching are increasingly multidisciplinary. This means that theories of
learning and teaching draw on research from many different disciplines (including education, psychology,
neuroscience, anthropology, linguistics, and many others). The three general areas of research that are
most heavily represented in this textbook are psychology, the learning sciences, and educational research
in different subject areas. We briefly discuss each of these areas below.
Psychology is a discipline that, generally, seeks to understand human cognition, emotion, and
behavior. Educational psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses specifically on issues related to
human learning. Educational psychologists study both learners learning alone and in groups. Educational
psychologists conduct research both in classrooms and in more controlled settings including laboratories.