Psychologist Pooja Agarwal, who has researched how various brain-based strategies to improve learning work in actual classrooms, describes the strong effects of "retrieval practice"--the practice of encouraging students to retrieve and "pull out" information they have learned from memory. Check out these powerful strategies.

Sketchnoting--a method of recording ideas visually as one reads or listens to information that's popular in the tech world--is finding its way into K-12 education as a technique to help engagement and comprehension. Given that students on the autism spectrum struggle with comprehending and retaining information, sketchnoting might help some of…

The image of the student with ADHD as Dennis the Menace is an outdated stereotype. Some students with ADHD are restless and disruptive, notes the author, but many others who suffer from this disorder are quieter, more distracted and more passive, and not productive or consistent in their work. Thomas E. Brown, a well-known expert on ADHD, shares a…

Brain science reveals that there are two periods of heightened plasticity, a time when the brain is especially prone to change: The first period is from birth to age 3; the second is during adolescence. The author, Laurence Steinberg, suggests that this finding should stimulate interest in secondary education as an opportune time to intervene to…

Although students vary in their abilities and interests, "hyper-individualizing" the curriculum in an attempt to accommodate these differences is not the best way to help each student excel, write Willingham and Daniel. Drawing on educational research, the authors give examples of several cognitive must haves (things that the cognitive system…

Our memories are not necessarily "bad," but stored in different areas. By understanding the five memory lanes (semantic, episodic, procedural, automatic, and emotional), a high school English teacher discovered why her students could not do fractions (to calculate grades) in English class. Paper-and-pencil tests can be redesigned to assess memory…

Describes how veteran elementary teacher at international school in Saudi Arabia uses her knowledge of brain research to design instruction that will enhance student retention of new geographic concepts. (Contains 11 references.) (PKP)