iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 14/09/2026

An Alpha student's perspective on the bootcamp feedback challenge austinscholar.substack.com/p/austin-sch...

Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 08/09/2026

‘Hasty readers’, the PISA decline and what happens when you prioritise skills over knowledge carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-great-...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 06/07/2026

Chatbots, novices, the automation of learning and the case for Alpha School carlhendrick.substack.com/p/children-o...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 27/06/2026

Why growth mindset works in the laboratory, fails in the classroom, and reveals something true about both. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-you-ca...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 13/05/2026

Privileged to be part of the #TransformED curriculum team. Thanks to the Minister Paul Givan and the brilliant dept of education team for the welcome and tour of Parliament Buildings at Stormont today.

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 08/05/2026

Are students learning anything from TikTok and YouTube? And do we have the research to know? ⤵️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/learning-i...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 06/05/2026

A LOT going on this month in the science of learning. New studies on the limits of retrieval practice, phone bans that don't move test scores, ChatGPT as cognitive crutch, and why early vocabulary growth tells us surprisingly little about later reading. ⤵️ substack.com/home/post/p-...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 04/05/2026

Do test scores improve after phone bans? Not really. - High schools gain a little. Middle schools lose a little. The average is close to zero. www.nber.org/papers/w35132

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 01/05/2026

The Evidence Base on AI in K-12: A 2026 Review scale.stanford.edu/sites/defaul...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 01/05/2026

The problem with banning social media is that it's social. New post ⤵️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-proble...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 24/04/2026

Rethinking Retrieval Practice: Remembering Is Not Knowing carlhendrick.substack.com/p/rethinking...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 11/04/2026

What's new in learning science? Monthly roundup: Retrieval practice under scrutiny, feedback's missing mechanism, AI that actually teaches, and the quiet erosion of cognitive effort. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-monthl...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 07/04/2026

I have written a free guide on responsive teaching for UNESCO available here: t.co/puvgOyGgi3

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 28/03/2026

We tend to think of reading as a visual act. But a growing body of research suggests that by the time a child encounters a word in print for the first time, their mind has already been preparing for that encounter. ⤵️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/orthograph...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 22/03/2026

Researching early teaching machines and fascinated by this 1937 device by Joseph James Ray. Like some weird Steampunk nightmare! It basically tested whether children could generalise from picture pairs: green light for correct, red for incorrect. Pure operant conditioning.

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 22/03/2026

Learning at the Edge of Understanding: Correct answers are a lagging indicator of learning, not the mechanism. New post ⤵️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/learning-a...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 18/03/2026

Delighted to receive a copy of this today. Great to see the Spanish edition of How Learning Happens out in the world. @paulkirschner.bsky.social

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 17/03/2026

If the job of teaching is dependent on people sacrificing their own mental health and wellbeing to do the job then this is simply not sustainable.

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 14/03/2026

AI makes it easier to do more and harder to stop. New piece on "AI brain fry", intensified work, and what this means for education. New post ⬇️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/ai-brain-f...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 11/03/2026

Proud to announce that How Learning Happens is being released in the Netherlands as a 3 part series. First one released in September. www.uitgeverijpica.nl/titels/hoe-l...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 11/03/2026

Does it matter whether students generate examples before retrieval practice or after it? This study suggests the order barely matters. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 09/03/2026

The Dutch version of Instructional Illusions is out now. What a lovely cover it is too. telos-uitgevers.nl/boeken/onder...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 06/03/2026

*NEW DATE* Friday - 29 May Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (AEST) Location: Melbourne Exhibition Centre, South Wharf VIC 3006

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 06/03/2026

Reading comprehension is not a skill. It’s an outcome of what you know. Strategies plateau. Knowledge compounds. lnkd.in/e-P9uNE2

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 15/02/2026

Australia! March 2026. Four events on applying the science of learning: 🗓 Sydney — Mar 10 🗓 Canberra — Mar 12 🗓 Melbourne — Mar 13 🗓 Auckland — Mar 16 Tickets at carlhendrick.com/events-2-1

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 08/02/2026

What is the number 1 thing schools are getting wrong in applying the science of learning? For me it's retrieval practice and this post attempts to say why: substacktools.com/sharex/5L00N...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 30/01/2026

Looking forward to speaking at the Abu Dhabi Teaching Conference tomorrow. #ADTC2026

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 30/01/2026

Spent the morning at GEMS School of Research & Innovation in Dubai. Honoured to be invited to talk about the science of learning with Abeer Sakka who has done an incredible job there implementing research and practice across the GEMS Education network with the TLAG playbook.

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 19/01/2026

New study on cognitive load shows it's not a single, stable thing that students carry through a lesson. It rises, falls, peaks, and interacts with motivation. 1/4 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 17/01/2026

Are natural learning environments really the best way learn? New post on Herbert Simon and why effective instructional design needs to be artificial. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/in-praise-...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 09/01/2026

Despite daily use of high quality comprehension curricula across four leading US districts, two thirds of observed lessons facilitated only surface level understanding of texts rather than the robust comprehension these materials were designed to support. sri.com/publication/...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 04/01/2026

Are funny teachers more effective? This is an interesting study because most studies on this are correlational, this uses randomised controlled experiments.

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 02/01/2026

Why do students keep using study strategies that don't work? (even when they know they don't.) A big takeaway from this study for me is the claim that if classrooms cue weak strategies, students will keep using them. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 27/12/2025

I started a Substack in February and have been surprised and humbled in equal measure at the response. Here are the most read posts this year. Thank you to everyone who has shown an interest. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-learni...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 20/12/2025

Why Most Education Apps Fail carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-most-e...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 17/12/2025

Short clip of me talking about memory and retrieval for the Victorian dept of education in Australia earlier this year. Part of the VTLM 2.0 Evidence to action series. arc.educationapps.vic.gov.au/learning/sit...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 14/12/2025

In 1849, Dostoyevsky was sentenced to death and lined up to be shot. At the very last second, his sentence was commuted. He went back to his cell and wrote a letter to his brother that's one of the most powerful things I've ever read. A powerful reminder to stop sleepwalking through life.

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 11/12/2025

Retrieval practice is a powerful tool but it's often used in ways that are not supported by the evidence. Here are five principles to think about when trying to avoid lethal mutations and apply it more effectively. open.substack.com/pub/carlhend...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 03/12/2025

The Research Brief: What's New in Learning Science - December 2025 open.substack.com/pub/carlhend...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 23/11/2025

A new paper argues that current generative AI tools offer little benefit for genuine learning unless students already have substantial prior knowledge. genAI gives probabilistic summaries, not the kind of support that builds expertise.

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 21/11/2025

New study on motivation: classrooms where mastery goals are normal seem to produce students whose perseverance grows instead of fading. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 15/11/2025

Why a generation of kids are learning to read everything except books. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/in-defence...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 08/11/2025

Are we approaching a Turing Test for Teaching? A deep dive into the evidence on AI tutoring. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-algori...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 04/11/2025

Really pleased that the Spanish version of 'How Learning Happens' is finally coming out. @paulkirschner.bsky.social @olicav.bsky.social @akaleditor.bsky.social akal.com/libro/como-s...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 31/10/2025

What's new in the science of learning? New research on reading instruction, retrieval practice, feedback, fluency, and the limits of social-emotional learning. ▶️ carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-resear...

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 25/10/2025

Responsive teaching: 7 guiding principles arc.educationapps.vic.gov.au/learning/sit...

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