Cognitive science is gaining increasing influence in education and many existing and developing educational approaches are described as ‘inspired by cognitive science’. Many of these approaches have been long practiced or described as effective pedagogy without any reference to cognitive science – for example, quizzing pupils on topics has been common even without this being thought of as a form of ‘retrieval practice’ (EEF, 2021).

One of the main cognitive science concepts that concerns teachers is the processes which we use to create memories. Memory can be separated into sensory, working and long-term memory, and the relationship between these types of memory can have an impact on how we learn, and how we, as teachers, should present information within a lesson.

The key principles behind this are:

1. Learning requires information to be committed to long-term memory.
2. Information is processed through the working memory.
3. The working memory has limited capacity and can be overloaded.

Teaching Approaches

Teaching/learning approaches supported by cognitive psychology to include in your primary science curriculum include.

• Reducing cognitive load: Planning activities that do not require too much memory capacity. Break it into chunks.
• Plain Classroom Environment: Having a simple, visually uncluttered classroom helps children to focus on the intended learning.
• Retrieval practice: Using a variety of low stages strategies to recall information from memory, for example flashcards, quizzes, or mind-mapping.
• Spaced practice: Distributing learning and retrieval opportunities over a longer period of time rather than concentrating them in ‘massed’ practice.
• Interleaving: Sequencing learning tasks so that similar items are interspersed with slightly (but not completely) different types of items rather than being presented consecutively.
• Dual coding: Using both verbal and non-verbal information (such as words and pictures) alongside each other to teach concepts.
• Use concrete examples: Abstract ideas are easier to understand if we give an example.
• Elaboration: Ask the children to expand on their ideas; how is this similar to? How might you use this? What does this remind you of? etc. Paraphrase in own words or summarise.
• Making Links to Prior Learning: Reviewing previous learning and eliciting children’s existing ideas provides ‘hooks’ on which children can then build the new concepts.

For comprehensive guides to the evidence that underpins these cognitive science approaches, read the Education Endowment Foundation (2021) review as well as McMahon et al. (2021) The Learning Sciences and Primary School Science.

For more on planning science lessons, see this post.

Strategies to reduce cognitive load

In practice ‘reducing cognitive load’ means structuring the knowledge and teaching into smaller chunks to prevent overloading the brain. It means planning activities that do not require too much memory capacity. Teachers might provide support such as writing frames or word banks. The pace of the teaching is such that children have a secure set of ideas before they are expected to use them independently (McMahon et al, 2021).

This can include:

• Use focused assessment to elicit pupils’ current conceptual ideas, skills and knowledge of science processes in order to judge what cognitive load new teaching might involve,
• Present new material in steps e.g. teach pupils how to draw a table for results before asking children to do it independently.
• Use worked examples e.g. first make classification keys with sweets or finger puppets before applying them to animals or plants
• Scaffold children’s enquiries with planning boards and gradually hand over responsibility for making the decisions to pupils.
• In an enquiry think about the demands of working scientifically and the concept matter. If both are challenging, then the task may be too hard.
• Focus teaching on one aspect of Working Scientifically during an investigation, Consider which choices are for children to make.
• Limit what has to be recorded: use focused recording e.g. drawings, written responses to specific questions, instead of lengthy ‘write-ups’.

From McMahon et al. (2021)

Structuring a Lesson To Reduce Cognitive Load

Cognitive Load theory is based on the premise that before entering long-term memory and forming ‘schemas’ (knowledge structures, such as science concepts, or skills) information from the senses must first be processed in a kind of mental holding space known as the ‘working memory’. McMahon et al. (2021)

To manage cognitive load you might use a lesson structure that breaks up complex content into more manageable chunks. Children can then have time to process the new concept and link it to previously learnt information, like this:

For more on planning science lessons, see this post.

References

Caviglioli, O. (2019) Dual Coding with Teachers. John Catt Publishing.

Education Endowment Foundation (2021) Cognitive Science Approaches in the Classroom. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/evidence-reviews/cognitive-science-approaches-in-the-classroom

McMahon, K., McKay, D., and Lee, A., (2021) The Learning Sciences and Primary School Science. Bath Space University/Wellcome. https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/13965/

Wardell, R.,  (2022) Using Cognitive Science Principles to Design a Knowledge-Rich Primary Science Curriculum. Chartered College. https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/using-cognitive-science-principles-to-design-a-knowledge-rich-primary-science-curriculum-2/