Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning

Unleash powerful teaching and the science of learning in your classroom.

Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning empowers educators to harness rigourous research on how students learn and unleash it in their classrooms. In this book, cognitive scientist Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D., and veteran K-12 teacher Patrice M. Bain, Ed.S., decipher cognitive science research and illustrate ways to successfully apply the science of learning in classrooms settings. This practical resource is filled with evidence-based strategies that are easily implemented in less than a minute; without additional prepping, grading, or funding!

Research demonstrates that these powerful strategies raise student achievement by a letter grade or more; boost learning for diverse students, grade levels, and subject areas; and enhance students' higher order learning and transfer of knowledge beyond the classroom. Drawing on a fifteen-year scientist-teacher collaboration, more than 100 years of research on learning, and rich experiences from educators in K-12 and higher education, the authors present highly accessible step-by-step guidance on how to transform teaching with four essential strategies: Retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition.

With Powerful Teaching, you will:

• Develop a deep understanding of powerful teaching strategies based on the science of learning
• Gain insight from real-world examples of how evidence-based strategies are being implemented in a variety of academic settings
• Think critically about your current teaching practices from a research-based perspective
• Develop tools to share the science of learning with students and parents, ensuring success inside and outside the classroom

Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning is an indispensable resource for educators who want to take their instruction to the next level. Equipped with scientific knowledge and evidence-based tools, turn your teaching into powerful teaching and unleash student learning in your classroom.

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Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1. Discover the Power Behind Power Tools 9
2. Build a Foundation with Retrieval Practice 25
3. Empower Teaching with Retrieval Practice Strategies 55
4. Energize Learning with Spacing and Interleaving 93
5. Engage Students with Feedback-Driven Metacognition 123
6. Combine Power Tools and Harness Your Toolbox 153
7. Keeping It Real: Use Power Tools to Tackle Challenges, Not Add to Them 179
8. Foster a Supportive Environment: Use Power Tools to Reduce Anxiety and Strengthen Community 205
9. Spark Conversations with Students About the Science of Learning 227
10. Spark Conversations with Parents About the Science of Learning 265
11. Powerful Professional Development for Teachers and Leaders 279
12. Do It Yourself Retrieval Guide 303

Conclusion: Unleash the Science of Learning 327

Acknowledgments 329

Name Index 331

Subject Index 335

"Powerful Teaching is an incredible book with a very powerful message for teachers as to how we can transform education. A practical read, explained clearly and explicitly, this book will impact and improve teaching and learning. I love the fusion of educational research with real-life practical classroom examples."
- Kate Jones, author of Love to Teach: Research and Resources for Every Classroom

"We’ve arguably learned more about the brain—how it works and more pressingly how it learns—in the last 20 years than we did in all of human history up to that point. Yet many educators have done precious little to adjust their teaching to what we now know. Fortunately, Powerful Teaching provides a golden opportunity to do that. ‘Golden’ because the authors have taken the science and distilled it into its most powerful form: a limited number of simple but powerful ideas with guidance on how to use them with insight and fidelity. They’ve made it easy to be smarter about how you—and your students—learn. Who doesn’t want that?"
- Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like A Champion, Practice Perfect and Reading Considered

"In recent years, educators' understanding of how people learn has shifted in some big ways, but we haven't had a go-to manual for applying that research in the classroom. Powerful Teaching is that manual and so much more. With specific examples, actionable strategies, and tips for realistic implementation, Agarwal and Bain bridge the gap between cognitive science and education, showing us exactly how to put four key strategies into practice in any subject area and any grade level. Teachers who want to see dramatic improvement in student learning must read this book!"
- Jennifer Gonzalez, educator and Director of Cult of Pedagogy  read the full review

"The authors have combined years of scientific expertise and practical experience to create a marvelous book about understanding and applying the science of learning in the classroom. Powerful Teaching is highly readable and a boon to all teachers who want to improve their students’ learning."
- Henry L Roediger, III, author of Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

"In Powerful Teaching, educators at every level will find a treasure trove of new techniques they can put to use in their classrooms, all of which are grounded in the latest research on how students learn. Accessible prose, practical strategies, and solid scientific support—these elements combine to make this a book that will benefit all teachers and, more importantly, their students."
- James M Lang, author of Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning

"Powerful Teaching shines a spotlight on the partnership between teachers and students in learning, by emphasizing student responsibility in the classroom. Using a set of clearly defined Power Tools, this book equips educators to empower students to take charge of their own learning."
- Mandy Manning, 2018 National Teacher of the Year (USA)

"If we had to select a single book to recommend to instructors of any kind, it would be this masterpiece—Powerful Teaching is the best book on teaching that we’ve ever read. Agarwal and Bain provide a tour de force of practical ideas and explanations involving retrieval practice, explaining how this vital topic is related to concepts such as interleaving, deliberate practice, and formative assessments."
- Barbara Oakley, author of Learning How To Learn, and A Mind For Numbers  read the full review

"Other books about learning draw on academic research or on experience in the classroom. In Powerful Teaching, Agarwal and Bain combine the best of both to offer teachers, parents, and others concerned with education the most accurate and most useful information on how students learn."
- Annie Murphy Paul, science writer and author of Origins

"This easy-to-read book makes the phrase "science of learning" real for anyone responsible for teaching students. Powerful Teaching is chock full of practical tips (not fads) and, mercifully, devoid of academic mumbo jumbo. If you want to unlock the full power of students' minds, please read this!"
- Benjamin Riley, founder of Deans For Impact

"Teachers need this book. Students need this book. It’s as simple as that. This book will create a more efficient and effective classroom and improve learning. Powerful Teaching should be required reading for all teachers. If this book isn’t in your school’s professional development library, you’re missing out. Our classrooms are in dire need of this information and I cannot wait to lead a book study on Powerful Teaching."
- Blake Harvard, blogger and AP psychology teacher, James Clemens High School