It may sound archaic in today’s tech-centric classrooms, but researchers around the world are digging into the powerful effects of handwriting, revealing how the act of putting pen (or pencil) to pape...

Four basic considerations and the one that should come first

A pyramid model approach to Cowan's Embedded Processes Model

My perspective on why the science of learning is important for teachers

YouTube video by IATEFL

Generative AI has been around for over two years. We've had the chance to play with it, use it in our own work, and experiment with integrating it into teaching and learning in higher education. Frank...

We explore Nelson Cowan's Embedded Processes model, which offers an alternative to the classical "stores" model of memory, and suggests a different way to interpret its function, specifically Working ...

30 minute Twilight Webinars

This will be the last Friday you'll receive a Second Breakfast newsletter in 2024. I'm not writing my usual "year-in-review" series either, as easy as it could have been to just copy-and-paste "artifi...

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder show neural patterns different from those of neurotypical individuals. Here the authors show that this variation reflects a computational trade-off between ac...

An images thread demonstrating the features of the pyramid model.

The pyramid model helps us think concretely about the process of learning. if you wish to learn where it comes from and how it works, check out this page first. Briefly: Every triangular brick is ...

Different approaches can support varied forms of memory

Explore the science of learning and implication to teaching and learning

A principle of variation theory is identifying the aspect you really want students to discern, and then varying it. Importantly, when you vary it, you must try to keep all other aspects invariant so t...