Desirable difficulties for sustainable learning

One does not learn sustainably without difficulty... provided that it is a “desirable difficulty”!

It's not uncommon to hear that successful learning is quick and effortless learning, achieved in a few clicks or minutes (or even a few tweets!). But what is it really like? The experiments carried out by numerous research laboratories in cognitive sciences, which have been the subject of several hundred scientific publications, in fact show the opposite: fundamental strategies that allow sustainable learning all require genuine effort.

Two of them are now well defined:

     1. Systematic implementation through quizzes;

2. The spaced distribution of revisions over time.

Confronting mistakes and consolidating information in memory

Frequent quizzes are effective for two main reasons. On the one hand, by regularly answering quizzes, the learner checks whether he has really understood the subject through corrective feedback. Associated explanations then allow him to readjust his knowledge if necessary (see our article on the illusion of mastery, the enemy of learning!). On the other hand, answering a quiz requires the learner to make an effort to retrieve relevant information in memory in order to generate an answer [1]. It's the cognitive effort we all make when we're trying to solve a problem. Put in place throughout learning (and not only at the end), it allows a consolidation of the “paths” leading to this information, while multiplying the number of these possible paths for later memory retrieval [2] (see our article on the testing effect).

For them to fulfill their function in learning, quizzes must be frequent. [3] As such, automatic correction quizzes (MCQ type or other exercises with drag&drop) are easier to systematize because they do not require any correction effort. Such quizzes can have an equally beneficial effect, provided they are well-written: false proposals must correspond to mistakes that can actually be made by learners [4]. An effective MCQ is one in which the learner must make a real cognitive effort to find the correct answer (s), and not an MCQ in which he finds them by simple elimination (see our article on designing an effective assessment)).‍

Learning by spacing: letting yourself be forgotten in order to remember better later

A second effective learning strategy demonstrated by research is the spaced distribution of revisions over time. [5]. Distributed learning consists of distributing review sessions over time until the deadline set for mastering the subject (exam, corporate training assessment). Unlike so-called “massed” learning, this practice makes it possible to forget the knowledge learned between two revision sessions... which also increases cognitive effort during the second revision [6]. This forgetting is beneficial: the spaced repetition of this cognitive effort to retrieve memory consolidates information, and increases performance when the learner must later mobilize the knowledge or skills worked on (see also our article on spacing).

Note that the combination of the two practices, conducting quizzes frequently and spacing them out over time, is ideal! [7]‍

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The benefits of a desirable difficulty

Thus, the idea that learning should be effortless is misleading.. It is precisely necessary to make cognitive efforts to really master knowledge. Our aches and pains after a sports session are proof that we worked well. These efforts require more active commitment; but this cost is beneficial even if the benefits are not felt and measurable during the learning phase (which can be a source of frustration) such as when preparing for a marathon [8].

One does not learn sustainably without difficulty... provided that it is a “desirable difficulty”! [9] Desirable at first because the effort must be constructive: learners tend to favor rereading or repeated exposure to an educational resource (video), but these easy to implement practices give the illusion of having correctly integrated knowledge for good when in reality the learning is superficial and labile. Then desirable because the learner must want to make this effort in order to be actively engaged (be careful not to confuse effort and boredom!)

Towards evidence-based training

The counterintuitive notion of “desirable difficulty” perfectly illustrates the need to move to an education based on empirical evidence, rather than on intuitions that are not supported by the scientific literature. [10] A lack of adaptation of scientific jargon is perhaps one of the reasons why these very important results do not leave our benches... Making more bridges between our laboratory and the real lives of teachers and trainers will be essential to ensure the sustainable acquisition of new knowledge and skills for everyone, from school to professional life.

REFERENCES:

[1] Roediger H.L.III, Karpicke J.D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17, 249—255.
[2] Rowland C. A. (2014). The effect of testing versus restudy on retention: a meta-analytic review of the testing effect. Psychol. Bull, 140, 1432—1463.
[3] Gholami V., Morady Moghaddam, M. (2013).The Effect of Weekly Quizzes on Students' Final Achievement Score. Modern Education and Computer Science, 1, 36-41.
[4] Haladyna T., Downing S., Rodriguez M (2002). A Review of Multiple-Choice Item-Writing Guidelines for Classroom Assessment. Applied Measurement in Education, 15:3, 309-333.
[5] Cepeda N.J., Pashler H., Pashler H., Bul E., Wixted J.T., Rohrer D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 354—380.
[6] Kapler, I.V., Weston, T., & Wiseheart, M. (2015). Spacing in a simulated undergraduate classroom: Long-term benefits for factual and higher-level learning. Learning and Instruction, 36, 38—45.
[7] Hopkins, R., Lyle K, Lyle K, K, Hieb J, Ralston P (2016). Spaced Retrieval Practice Increases College Students' Short- and Long-Term Retention of Mathematics Knowledge. Educational Psychology Review, 28, Issue 4, pp 853—873.
[8] Roediger H.L., Karpicke J.D. (2010). Intricacies of spaced retrieval: A resolution. In Benjamin A.S. (Ed.), Successful Remembering and Successful Forgetting: Essays in Honor of Robert A. Bjork (pp. 1—36). New York: Psychology Press.
[9] Brown, P.C., Roediger, H.L., & McDaniel, M.A. (2014). Make It Stick. Harvard University Press.
[10] Dukte S., Bakker H., Papageorgi J., Taylor J. (2017). Evidence-based Teaching — Examples from Learning and Teaching Psychology. Psychology Learning and Teaching. DOI: 10.1177/1475725725717701209