Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Consolidation is a mental process that converts short-term memory into long-term memory. During this process, the brain organizes and stabilizes information to render it consistent with preexisting knowledge (i.e., the brain makes connections between old and new information). Sleep is a crucial step. The authors liken consolidation to revising a messy first draft of an essay over the course of a few sittings (73). Retrieving old information kickstarts a process of reconsolidation that again connects information in the brain.

Crystallized intelligence refers to the brain’s store of information accrued from prior learning and lived experiences. It becomes a broad accumulation of factual and practical information that the brain can draw from when it needs to produce solutions (this drawn out information being fluid intelligence).

“Desirable difficulties” is a term coined by psychologists Elizabeth and Robert Bjork to describe initial struggles that ultimately lead to more enduring learning. These hurdles are both difficult because they initially impede mastery and desirable because they pay off in the long-term. Difficulties are only undesirable if they present a problem that a learner cannot overcome with increased effort (for example, if a task requires reading a foreign language that the learner does not know).

The authors differentiate durable learning and short-term learning. “Cramming”—rapidly studying on the eve of an exam—is effective for said exam, but not at all effective for longer-term learning. Long-term learning that allows people to recall information and apply it to additional information or new experiences is the type of learning that the authors call “durable.”

Elaboration is one of the authors’ key learning strategies. Elaboration is a process through which learners expand their knowledge by drawing connections and taking the time and effort to explain information to themselves or others. The authors describe it as “the process of giving new material meaning” (5). Elaborating as much as possible helps encode new information in the brain; the more connections a person makes, the better their chances at establishing lasting memory (for example, elaborating on a textbook passage would involve a monologue or dialogue that goes beyond the immediate material). It is an alternative to rereading, which does not incorporate prior knowledge or outside information.

The authors ground Make It Stick in empirical research and evidence derived from such research. To be empirical means to be demonstrable, observable, and replicable. Empirical evidence is verifiable rather than based on anecdotes, intuition, or theory. The book’s empirical studies were conducted by professional scientists following the scientific method. The findings of such studies get peer-reviewed by other professionals in related fields and published in reputable academic journals. The authors use anecdotes to exemplify major concepts, but they also defend them and assertions about learning with empirical evidence.

Encoding is the first stage of the learning process. The human brain perceives stimuli and converts them into mental representations called memory traces. While scientists do not fully understand the process, they know it marks the beginning of hardwiring outside information into the physical brain. Initially encoded information is best characterized as short-term memory.

Fluid intelligence is the information that a brain accesses when reasoning and problem-solving. While the brain can easily extract abstract information, concepts, relationships, and structures, it doesn't always store these things permanently (rather, permanence relates to crystallized intelligence).

Generative learning is essentially the “trial and error” approach. Learners answer questions or problems not explicitly learned by applying relevant knowledge or testing different approaches—rather than recalling correct answers or effective strategies. This type of learning can be effective when failure is safe, but errors require corrective feedback in order to be overcome instead of repeated.

Chapter 5 introduces this term, describing the many ways in which the brain tricks itself into thinking it knows more than it does. The authors discuss how familiarity born of practice leads people to think they mastered information out of repetition; this learning is only short-term. People can also be poor judges of competence, vastly overestimating their own knowledge or performance. Illusions of knowing threaten genuine learning, but can be avoided with intentional effort and logical reflection.

Interleaved practice is a learning strategy that involves learning several subjects or skills at once instead of in succession. While common practice holds that learners should learn and master one skill before progressing to the next, scientific findings suggest that learning is most effective when interleaved (interspersed) with related topics. Having a variety of learning materials exposes learners to different contexts and can help them differentiate situations to determine when certain knowledge is applicable and when it is not.

There are many theorized categories of learners who prefer particular types of instructions and presentation of information. One common model to describe these “learning styles” is the VARK model (Visual, Auditory, Reading, and Kinesthetic). A second model proposes environmental, emotional, sociological, perceptual, physiological, and psychological learners. A third proposes more categories: concrete versus abstract, active experimentation versus reflective observation, and random versus sequential organization. The authors discuss all of these models in Chapter 6, the main point being that learners learn best when an instructional style matches their preferences (according to theory). Science, however, does not support this claim. Still, the school system elevates this claim and structures learning according to it.

Massed practice is the repetitive practice of a skill, or repetitive exposure to (or recitation of) information. It is a common practice in learning and includes on-the-spot feedback and correction, so there is little struggle and time between retrieval and implementation of information (i.e., rereading textbooks). This process gives illusions of knowing as any knowledge gained is fleeting.

The authors define mental models as “forms of deeply entrenched and highly efficient skills (seeing and unloading a curveball) or knowledge structures (a memorized sequence of chess moves) that, like habits, can be adapted and applied in varied circumstances” (83). Mental models indicate mastery over a set of topics or skills as said knowledge is thoroughly understood. The information lives in long-term memory but is retrieved and made meaningful so regularly that it does not become forgotten.

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s malleable nature. The physical brain, constructed of neurons (nerve cells) and continually sending signals through cells and the spaces between them, can reorganize itself and form new connections with new information. This quality also allows the brain to repair itself after injury.

Retrieval goes beyond “committing knowledge to memory”—because learners who actively recall knowledge can practically utilize it (75). This process allows people to apply learned information. If information is retrieved and enacted enough, certain tasks or information can become reflexive and require very little active thinking.

Though the authors deemphasize traditional learning styles, they concede that certain differences do matter in accumulating new knowledge. One factor that affects a person’s learning ability is the discrepancy between rule learning and example learning. Rule learners distill from a set of examples the underlying principles that connect and differentiate them; example learners retain the details of individual examples but require some work to see them as relational in a larger structure. The authors hold that determining relationships and structures is essential to durable learning, suggesting that example learners study multiple examples at once to better understand related subjects.