How Learning Works

As educators in the ever-evolving landscape of higher education, we are continuously challenged to keep our courses effective, engaging, relevant, and inclusive. The updated and expanded second edition of How Learning Works can help! It incorporates the latest research, provides a wider range of strategies, and adds a new principle to your toolkit.

Readers will find eight essential learning principles that distill the overwhelming research literature into:

• Real-world teaching and learning scenarios
• Examples that reflect a diverse set of teaching environments and learner populations
• 150 practical strategies you can apply to your teaching context

With these practical, broadly applicable insights, you can:

• Understand why your successful teaching approaches work
• Solve common teaching and learning problems
• Adapt your teaching to new modalities (e.g., online, hybrid) and challenges
• Ground your innovations in evidence-based practice

Based on research from cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, education, anthropology, and more—this book makes learning work…for you and your students.

List of Figures, Tables, and Exhibits xi

Foreword to the First Edition: Applying the Science of Learning to College Teaching
Richard E. Mayer xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

About the Authors xix

Preface to the Second Edition xxiii

Introduction Bridging Learning Research and Teaching Practice 1

1 Why Do Students’ Identities and Stages of Development Matter for Learning? 9

2 How Does Students’ Prior Knowledge Affect Their Learning? 39

3 How Does the Way Students Organize Knowledge Affect Their Learning? 64

4 What Factors Motivate Students to Learn? 84

5 How Do Students Develop Mastery? 106

6 What Kinds of Practice and Feedback Enhance Learning? 130

7 Why Does Course Climate Matter for Student Learning? 162

8 How Do Students Become Self- Directed Learners? 187

Conclusion Applying the Eight Principles to Ourselves 212

Appendices

Appendix A What Are Instructor Self- Assessments/Reflections and How Can We Use Them? 219

Appendix B What Are Ground Rules and How Can We Use Them? 223

Appendix C What Are Student Self- Assessments and How Can We Use Them? 226

Appendix D What Are Concept Maps and How Can We Use Them? 229

Appendix E What Are Rubrics and How Can We Use Them? 232

Appendix F What Are Learner Checklists and How Can We Use Them? 242

Appendix G What Are Learning Objectives and How Can We Use Them? 244

Appendix H What Are Active Learning Strategies and How Can We Use Them? 247

Appendix I What Are Reader Responses/Peer Reviews and How Can We Use Them? 250

Appendix J What Are Exam Wrappers and How Can We Use Them? 252

References 255

Name Index 287

Subject Index 299

Marsha C. Lovett, PhD, is Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Innovation and a Teaching Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University.

Michael W. Bridges, PhD, is Executive Director of the University Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.

Michele DiPietro, PhD, is Executive Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and a Professor in the School of Data Science and Analytics at Kennesaw State University.

Susan A. Ambrose, DA, is retired from Northeastern University, where she was Senior Vice Chancellor for Educational Innovation and a Professor of Education and History.

Marie K. Norman, PhD, is Director of the Innovative Design for Education and Assessment (IDEA) Lab and Associate Professor of Medicine and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh.

In the newly revised Second Edition of How Learning Works, a team of distinguished educators and researchers delivers an insightful and practical roadmap to creating a curriculum that meets the needs of modern students in modern classrooms. Readers will learn to design and implement effective, engaging, relevant, and inclusive courses that incorporate the latest learning research.

In this book, you’ll discover why new teaching approaches are so successful and how to solve common teaching and learning problems. You’ll also learn to adapt your teaching to new modalities—including online and hybrid environments—that bring with them novel challenges and untapped potential.

How Learning Works grounds its instruction and advice in evidence and research from cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, education, anthropology, and other disciplines, creating a firm foundation of evidence-based practice on which you can build your curricula. It includes 150 practical strategies you can apply immediately, in any teaching context, as well as examples that reflect a diverse and varied set of teaching environments and learner populations.

From understanding and emphasizing the importance of the prior knowledge students bring to your classroom to the different ways that students organize knowledge and apply what they know, this book expands upon the key principles identified by the authors in their thirty years’ experience working one-on-one with faculty and studying the research literature.

A can’t-miss resource for higher education faculty, faculty developers, and administrators, the latest edition of How Learning Works will also earn a place in the libraries of graduate students in education and those with professorial aspirations, as well as online and hybrid course designers and instructors.

Praise for How Learning Works, 2nd Edition

“Since the publication of the original How Learning Works, I have returned again and again to its thorough and readable summaries of the most important research on student learning. This Second Edition has become an even more essential resource for faculty, as the authors have infused the book’s recommendations with greater awareness of the social, emotional, and cultural factors that impact student identity and development.”
—James Lang, Author of Small Teaching

“How Learning Works is a poignant and provocative book that engages meaningfully and intentionally with the intellectual and affective dimensions of teaching and learning that shape our complex and diverse higher education classrooms. Presenting a well-researched, relevant and socially conscious range of cognitive and social principles and practices, the authors explore what it means to engage intentionally with students as whole beings, in a socially just, inclusive and pedagogically responsible way.”
—Kasturi Behari-Leak, Dean of the Centre for Higher Education Development, University of Cape Town

“The Second Edition of How Learning Works is superb. I particularly admire its breadth of coverage, which includes socio-emotional and cognitive components of learning. I highly recommend it for anyone at any level in education.”
—Henry L. Roediger, III, James S. McDonnell Professor of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis; Co-author of Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

“How Learning Works is the essential book on teaching and learning in higher education. The new edition is even better than the original. Drawing deeply on recent research to outline eight principles of How Learning Works, the authors provide practical guidance to put those principles into action. This book is smart, useful, and inspiring!”
—Peter Felten, Executive Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Elon University “Since the publication of the original How Learning Works, I have returned again and again to its thorough and readable summaries of the most important research on student learning. This second edition has become an even more essential resource for faculty, as the authors have infused the book’s recommendations with greater awareness of the social, emotional, and cultural factors that impact student identity and development.”
—James Lang, Author of Small Teaching

“How Learning Works is a poignant and provocative book that engages meaningfully and intentionally with the intellectual and affective dimensions of teaching and learning that shape our complex and diverse higher education classrooms. Presenting a well-researched, relevant and socially conscious range of cognitive and social principles and practices, the authors explore what it means to engage intentionally with students as whole beings, in a socially just, inclusive and pedagogically responsible way.”
—Kasturi Behari-Leak, Dean of the Centre for Higher Education Development, University of Cape Town

“The Second Edition of How Learning Works is superb. I particularly admire its breadth of coverage, which includes socio-emotional and cognitive components of learning. I highly recommend it for anyone at any level in education.”
—Henry L. Roediger, III, James S. McDonnell Professor of Psychology; Washington University in St. Louis, Co-author of Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

“How Learning Works is the essential book on teaching and learning in higher education. The new edition is even better than the original. Drawing deeply on recent research to outline eight principles of How Learning Works, the authors provide practical guidance to put those principles into action. This book is smart, useful, and inspiring!”
—Peter Felten, Executive Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Elon University

“This book provides tremendous benefits to anyone who wants to engage students and facilitate learning in a higher education context. The authors have pruned the extensive research about how learning works into eight principles and their associated implications. Each chapter contains relatable challenges and offers evidence-based approaches for addressing them.”
—Bonni Stachowiak, Host + Producer, Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast

"How Learning Works is the perfect title for this excellent book. Drawing upon new research in psychology, education, and cognitive science, the authors have demystified a complex topic into clear explanations of eight powerful learning principles. Full of great ideas and practical suggestions, all based on solid research evidence, this book is essential reading for instructors at all levels who wish to improve their students' learning."
—Barbara Gross Davis, assistant vice chancellor for educational development, University of California, Berkeley, and author, Tools for Teaching

"As you read about each of the eight basic learning principles in this book, you will find advice that is grounded in learning theory, based on research evidence, relevant to college teaching, and easy to understand. The authors have extensive knowledge and experience in applying the science of learning to college teaching, and they graciously share it with you in this organized and readable book."
—Richard E. Mayer, professor of psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara; coauthor, e-Learning and the Science of Instruction; and author, Multimedia Learning