Channel Title: Benjamin Keep, PhD, JD Channel Description: Insights into learning, science, and society. For teachers, students and the science-curious. I’m a cognitive scientist specializing in learning and instruction. I focus on how to develop expert reasoning skills and what the heck this beautiful, fascinating thing called science is. You’ll also find videos on social science research methods and bigger picture stuff, like how social systems produce scientific knowledge and why that knowledge sometimes goes ignored or misapplied. I have a PhD in learning sciences and technology design from Stanford and a law degree from Cornell. You can read more at www.benjaminkeep.com and sign up to my email newsletter there. <video> The Skill of Learning from Lectures Description: Some viewers asked for a video on learning from lectures. So I finally made one. NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my free newsletter, Avoiding Folly, here: http://www.benjaminkeep.com 00:00 Starting with a question 00:53 Lectures and learning 2:10 On the popularity of the lecture format 2:56 Preparing for a lecture 4:38 Making the most of reading assignments 6:33 The goals of preparation: cognitive load 7:37 Create relevant prior knowledge 8:10 Get relevant practical experience 8:29 Begin the organizational process 9:06 Going to the lecture 10:54 Good attention 11:47 Attention drops during lecture 12:29 Dealing with online lectures 13:37 Reviewing after the lecture 14:42 Creative ways of reviewing 16:20 Fundamentals are key 17:26 Frameworks to help you review 19:50 Review vs doing homework 21:38 A little goes a long way ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The scrolling text when I was talking about cognitive load comes from an excerpt from an old Vanity Fair magazine, written by P.G. Wodehouse, available here: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/10/physical-culture-peril-pg-wodehouse-best-of-early-vanity-fair. The green screen Youtube video (talking about stopping at 10 minutes, 30 minutes) came from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-7LExVpU4g I used an example lecture from Scott Page’s Model Thinking on Coursera, found here. The specific excerpt, was taken from the first lecture on aggregation. https://www.coursera.org/lecture/model-thinking/aggregation-UWXGF. I definitely recommend Scott Page’s work, especially if you’re interested in social science and social dynamics. The "taking a test" example came from an MIT course on differential equations: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-03-differential-equations-spring-2010/resources/mit18_03s10_ex1/. REFERENCES On attention during lectures. The basic take-away is that passive learning during lectures is similar to a vigilance task (asking people to monitor for low frequency signals from a background of noise - radar monitoring for instance). 10-30 minutes in, steep attention decrements. Young, M. S., Robinson, S., & Alberts, P. (2009). Students pay attention!: Combating the vigilance decrement to improve learning during lectures. Active Learning in Higher Education, 10(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787408100194 If you are a teacher looking to improve student learning during lectures, this piece from almost 40 years ago still holds up. If you’re a science teacher at the undergraduate level, I recommend visiting the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative. Gibbs, G., Habeshaw, S., & Habeshaw, T. (1987). Improving Student Learning During Lectures. Medical Teacher, 9(1), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.3109/01421598709028976 This is a more modern piece covering some of the same ground: Cerbin, W. (2018). Improving student learning from lectures. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 4(3), 151–163. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000113 </video> <video> The Essentials of Problem Solving Description: An introduction to the psychology of problem solving. Featured problems: the towers of Hanoi, the Chinese ring puzzle, the Wason 4-card selection task, the candle problem, Roman matchstick problems, and toothpick shape problems. 00:00 A quick note 00:47 The problem state space and the towers of Hanoi 4:45 Problems of representation and the Chinese ring puzzle 6:42 Context and variations of the Wason 4-card selection task 9:42 Introduction to insight problems: the candle problem 11:05 Differences between insight and incremental problems 12:15 Barriers to insight: Roman matchstick problems 17:30 Insight problems: too big of a distinction? 19:08 Well-structured and ill-structured problems 21:11 Representation and argument 23:34 Becoming a better problem solver: toothpick problems 26:45 Domain-specific knowledge and strategy change 30:55 What transfers across problem-solving domains? NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Newsletter: www.benjaminkeep.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The towers of Hanoi footage comes from Math Playground's version of the towers. The Chinese ring puzzle footage comes from Youtuber @Jojikiba, here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nydIl2VO12I The candle problem visuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEvThYxtnFQ. If know who made it, please let me know. The link above seems to be the oldest version. Paul Zeitz photo: https://www.imo-official.org/advisory.aspx?year=2019 Math and STEP problems: https://www.imo-official.org/problems/IMO2022SL.pdf and https://www.usmle.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/Step_1_Sample_Items.pdf, respectively. Physics problems: Badeau, R., White, D. R., Ibrahim, B., Ding, L., & Heckler, A. F. (2017). What works with worked examples: Extending self-explanation and analogical comparison to synthesis problems. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 13(2), 020112. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.020112 Visit www.eternagame.org for more info on Eterna. The Chess explanation clip: @BetterChessTraining. The Starcraft 2 clip: an @ESChamp video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4okBbHaCQ98 The go examples come from Sensei’s library: https://senseis.xmp.net/?CornersThenSidesThenCenter Starcraft 2 map: https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/starcraft2/23223597/new-ladder-maps-for-2019-season-4 Parity example: https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php?title=Parity The free body diagram is from a Math and Science video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI11vHsRnC8 The map of Easter Island: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Island_map-en.svg The cashflow statement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_flow_statement#cite_note-21, but is originally from Epstein, Barry J.; Eva K. Jermakowicz (2007). Interpretation and Application of International Financial Reporting Standards. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 91–97. ISBN 978-0-471-79823-1. REFERENCES Simon, H. A., & Newell, A. (1971). Human problem solving: The state of the theory in 1970. American psychologist, 26(2), 145. The tower of Hanoi state space was adapted from Zhang, J., & Norman, D. A. (1994). Representations in distributed cognitive tasks. Cognitive science, 18(1), 87-122. The Chinese Ring puzzle state space (for 5 rings) is adapted from Kotovsky, K. & Simon, H. A. (1990). What Makes Some Problems Really hard: Explorations in the Problem Space of Difficulty. Cognitive Psychology, 22(2), 143–183. The “underage drinking” example of the Wason 4-card task comes from this classic: Griggs, R. A., & Cox, J. R. (1982). The elusive thematic‐materials effect in Wason's selection task. British journal of psychology, 73(3), 407-420. A short meta-analysis on the Wason 4-card task: Ragni, M., Kola, I., & Johnson-Laird, P. (2017). The Wason Selection task: A Meta-Analysis. In CogSci. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ilir-Kola/publication/322682384_The_Wason_Selection_Task_A_Meta-Analysis/links/5a688e6f4585156abdffd541/The-Wason-Selection-Task-A-Meta-Analysis.pdf On the insight experience: Webb, M. E., Little, D. R., & Cropper, S. J. (2016). Insight Is Not in the Problem: Investigating Insight in Problem Solving across Task Types. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01424 The Matchstick Roman numeral problems and the discussion of constraints and chunks come from: Öllinger, M., Jones, G., & Knoblich, G. (2008). Investigating the Effect of Mental Set on Insight Problem Solving. Experimental Psychology, 55(4), 269–282. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169.55.4.269 On strategic change, see: Siegler, R. S. (2002). Microgenetic studies of self-explanation. Microdevelopment: Transition processes in development and learning, 31, 58. On the importance of representations in ill-structured domains, see: Chandrasekharan, S., & Nersessian, N. J. (2011). Building cognition: the construction of external representations for discovery. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (Vol. 33, No. 33). </video> <video> Online Learning Can Be Awesome. Here's How. Description: There are a lot of wonderful learning resources on the internet. How should we go about using them? GiveInternet.org Donation Link: https://giveinternet.org/BenjaminKeep 00:00 Introduction 00:45 Finding the right learning resources 2:04 Getting practice 4:02 Finding a learning community 5:08 Planning your practice 5:54 What happens next? 8:18 A worthy cause To learn more about my learning community and join, click here: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community To sign up to my (infrequent) newsletter, click here: http://www.benjaminkeep.com. Edited by Presage: https://pre-sage.com/ Resources featured in the video: Kalid Azad's Better Explained: https://betterexplained.com/ Paul's Online Math Notes: https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/ Susan Rigetti's guide to learning physics: https://www.susanrigetti.com/physics Andy Guitar: https://www.andyguitar.co.uk/ SimplyPiano: https://www.hellosimply.com/simply-piano Tenenbaum, M., & Pollard, H. (1985). Ordinary differential equations: an elementary textbook for students of mathematics, engineering, and the sciences. Courier Corporation. https://archive.org/details/TenenbaumAndPollardOrdinaryDifferentialEquations Young, H. D., Freedman, R. A., Ford, A. L., Sears, F. W., & Zemansky, M. W. (2014). Sears and Zemansky's University Physics with Modern Physics. </video> <video> Youtubers tested the generation effect. Did it work? Description: Did Youtubers replicate the generation effect? At first, it might not seem like it, but let's take a closer look. 0:00 This video is a follow-up video 0:39 Was there an effect? 3:12 An attempt to visualize the effect 4:36 Sources of variation 5:13 Encoding strategies and non-native speakers 7:30 Why what I just did wasn't really legit 8:14 Variation among experimental designs 10:16 A common source of error 12:12 Oh no, it's an ad... NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my email newsletter here: http://www.benjaminkeep.com REFERENCES The first one is the meta-analysis that I took screenshots of for the video. The second one is more recent and delves deeper into the theories that explain the effect. Bertsch, S., Pesta, B. J., Wiscott, R., & McDaniel, M. A. (2007). The generation effect: A meta-analytic review. Memory & Cognition, 35(2), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193441 McCurdy, M. P., Viechtbauer, W., Sklenar, A. M., Frankenstein, A. N., & Leshikar, E. D. (2020). Theories of the generation effect and the impact of generation constraint: A meta-analytic review. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 27(6), 1139–1165. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01762-3 </video> <video> Learning Foreign Language Vocabulary - The Fundamentals Description: Some thoughts on learning foreign language vocabulary. The “Chinese is Hard” podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6DdGLH8neJoAkggOZu4VrN William Hart’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@will3267 Danyo Pang’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thedanyopang 00:00 That's a lot of words 00:24 Different kinds of vocabulary words 2:06 Word mapping between languages 3:16 Vocabulary goes beyond words 6:25 A story about prior knowledge 9:22 Learning words by example and in context 10:31 Flashcards 12:22 Comprehensible input 13:50 Pushed output NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my email newsletter, here: http://www.benjaminkeep.com Acknowledgements: Definitions of “chew” comes from dictionary.com; definitions for “hard,” “take for granted,” and "repetition" come from Merriam-Webster, slightly adapted. References: The observations in this video are a mish-mash of my own personal experience and my reading of the literature on language learning. The best survey of that literature that I know of is How Languages are Learned by Patsy Lightbrown and Nina Spada. The 4th edition is here: https://bookshop.org/a/91541/9780194541268 (bookshop links are affiliate links, so if you purchase through this link, I do get a small commission; I would try to find this from your local library, though). It’s written with foreign language teachers in mind (not necessarily foreign language students), but hits on many of the key ideas, mentions a lot of great studies that I won’t enumerate here, and offers a relatively balanced portrait of the research on language learning. The 10,000 word estimate I mentioned at the beginning of the video is low and I wish I would have been more accurate. A lot depends on how you’re defining a word and how you define what “knowing” means. This is a solid paper on estimating the vocabulary of native American English speakers: Brysbaert, M., Stevens, M., Mandera, P., & Keuleers, E. (2016). How Many Words Do We Know? Practical Estimates of Vocabulary Size Dependent on Word Definition, the Degree of Language Input and the Participant’s Age. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01116. The upshot is that they estimate about ~11,000 word families and 42,000 lemmas on average. A lemma is a root word that you can derive into other things (baked, bake, baking would not be three separate words - just one lemma). Word families are larger groups of related words with similar forms and related meanings. Comprehensible Input is one of the main ideas in Stephen Krashen’s Monitor Theory. This is the classic piece that lays it out: Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition. Second Language Learning, 3(7), 19-39. https://www.academia.edu/download/35238869/second_languge_acquisition_and_learning.pdf The idea of pushed output comes from Merrill Swain and her studies of proficiency in immersive classrooms. She's got a lot to say on it over the years, but here's a representative example: Swain, M. (1997). Collaborative dialogue: Its contribution to second language learning. https://riull.ull.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/915/30603/RCEI_34_%281997%29_07.pdf?sequence=1 There’s much more to say about comprehensible input and pushed output, and I’ve got plans to release videos on those two ideas at least. </video> <video> Why Can't People Solve These Simple Problems? Description: The cognitive reflection test was meant to measure one thing: the tendency for someone to stop and think before giving a quick answer. The simplicity of the test made it a widely used measure for critical thinking. But some clever experiments illustrate that the CRT is not so simple after all. 00:00 Introduction 00:19 The CRT problems 1:20 The structure of CRT problems 3:04 Some hints about what's going wrong 4:53 The structure of insight problems 6:27 Explanation Number One 7:57 Explanation Number Two 8:57 Explanation Number Three NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Recommended reading: https://www.benjaminkeep.com/recommended-reading/ Sign up to my free (infrequently published) newsletter here: https://www.benjaminkeep.com/ REFERENCES This video is mostly based off of Patel, N., Baker, S. G., & Scherer, L. D. (2019). Evaluating the cognitive reflection test as a measure of intuition/reflection, numeracy, and insight problem solving, and the implications for understanding real-world judgments and beliefs. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(12), 2129–2153. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000592 This is the (classic) paper that introduced the CRT as a measure of reflection. Frederick, S. (2005). Cognitive reflection and decision making. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19, 25– 42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/ 089533005775196732. It also includes correlations between the math section of the SAT and the CRT (.46) vs the verbal section of the SAT and the CRT (.24). On the CRT’s correlation to tests measuring numeracy being about .5, see Cokely, E. T., Galesic, M., Schulz, E., Ghazal, S., & Garcia-Retamero, R. (2012). Measuring Risk Literacy: The Berlin Numeracy Test. Judgment and Decision Making, 7(1), 25–47. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1930297500001819 On the associations between reflection/analytical thinking and various beliefs, see Pennycook, G., Fugelsang, J. A., & Koehler, D. J. (2015). Everyday Consequences of Analytic Thinking. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(6), 425-432. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415604610 This mentions some of the earlier results correlating CRT performance to rational thinking, but also extends the CRT to a seven-question test. The four added questions are probably even more reliant on numerical ability than the first three. Toplak, M. E., West, R. F., & Stanovich, K. E. (2011). The Cognitive Reflection Test as a predictor of performance on heuristics-and-biases tasks. Memory & cognition, 39(7), 1275-1289. </video> <video> Everyone misses this problem solving step Description: There's lots of good advice on problem solving. But the details matter. 00:00 Introduction 1:08 The problem solving process 1:54 The important sentence 3:02 Skipping the step vs doing the thing NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community BTW, if you're learning physics on your own, I think Susan Rigetti's recommendations are indispensable. https://www.susanrigetti.com/physics The "2000" problems video I reference is here: https://youtu.be/_5MQUMtRPmM References: The physics book in question is: Young, H. D., Freedman, R. A., & Ford, A. L. (20). Sears and Zemansky's University Physics with Modern Physics. 15th Edition. Pearson education. Although I think any of the earlier editions (14th, 13th, international, etc.) are good. Again, credit to Susan Rigetti for this recommendation. The papers I referenced on conceptual knowledge and procedural skill: Kim, E., & Pak, S. J. (2002). Students do not overcome conceptual difficulties after solving 1000 traditional problems. American Journal of Physics, 70(7), 759-765. (available at http://sdsu-physics.org/sdsu_per/articles/ProblemS_ConUnderst.pdf) Byun, T., & Lee, G. (2014). Why students still can't solve physics problems after solving over 2000 problems. American Journal of Physics, 82(9), 906-913. (available at https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.4881606) </video> <video> "Get Better at Anything" - A conversation with Scott H. Young Description: Scott H. Young's new book, "Get Better at Anything" is out and I sit down with him for an hour or so to talk about it. Strap in, cause it's a rambling ride! 00:00 My apologies 1:49 Why did Scott write this book? 3:57 What surprised Scott about the research this time? 8:00 It’s a good book. 12:16 The research-practice gap (round 1) 13:46 Scott’s organizational framework 16:21 The connection between individual learning and social learning 19:44 What do researchers actually agree on? 24:40 The research-practice gap (round 2) 34:35 What issues do researchers miss? 43:20 The nature of learning 49:29 Educational curricula 53:43 What students misunderstand about learning frameworks 1:01:22 What we do we actually know about learning complex concepts? 1:09:31 Connections between problem solving and learning Here's a link to buy Scott's book: https://bookshop.org/a/91541/9780063256675 (It's an affiliate link, so you help me out a bit if you buy it through the link.) Join my membership site for more content like this: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my free (infrequent) newsletter: www.benjaminkeep.com </video> <video> 40 Hours to Learn Mental Math | The riveting conclusion? Description: It can't be true! I finally published the update to my "learning mental math in 40 hours video"! How many eons have passed? First part is here: https://youtu.be/uCi0_tjOiyQ 00:00 Last time... 00:40 Is tracking my hours helpful? 01:08 Is the diagnostic test a good measure? 01:55 Speed vs accuracy 03:22 Interleaved vs deliberate practice 04:54 The importance of seeing progress 05:50 Midway diagnostic results 06:15 Practice and performance gains 07:08 Skill integration 09:33 What the test measures 10:12 Are your mistakes changing? 11:15 What I’m focusing on next 12:21 The major system 14:17 28 hours in 14:39 The development of intuition 16:29 35 hours in 18:38 The return of the major system 19:45 Lessons for learning something on your own NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my email newsletter on reasoning, social science, and decision-making: http://www.benjaminkeep.com The math course I was working from was: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/secrets-of-mental-math, but Arthur Benjamin also has a book teaching the same things: https://bookshop.org/a/91541/9780307338402. The bookshop link is an affiliate link so I get a buck or something if you buy it through this link (thanks, if you do!). Some thoughts on interleaved practice: https://youtu.be/AWTYfzxBwPg Some thoughts on deliberate practice: https://youtu.be/WbUOY9ioIqw (tackling some myths about deliberate practice); https://youtu.be/3SZDj5TEhU0 (on criticisms of the deliberate practice model) A quick intro to the novice to expert transition: https://youtu.be/qwDzjQsM3yQ </video> <video> How to learn from a book (maybe) | note-taking, visualizations, spacing | history example Description: Does anyone really know how to learn from a book? Here is a record of my first serious attempt to understand and remember what I was reading for the long term, along with various justifications (and rationalizations!) for what I did. 0:00 What I'm trying to do 0:50 What does it mean to learn from a book? 2:27 Writing down themes 4:27 The back-and-forth 6:01 The function of notes 7:01 Taking paths through the material 7:36 Why do my visualizations suck? 8:53 Getting precise 10:20 Why these (bad) visualizations? 11:14 Spacing things out 12:20 What I would do differently next time NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my email newsletter here: http://www.benjaminkeep.com. REFERENCES: The book is China: A History by John Keay. My practices here come from a variety of sources, but here's some representative work. This piece is about teaching students higher-level reading strategies to aid deep comprehension (constructing inferences and explanations, self-monitoring, etc.). A useful read that I largely agree with: McNamara, D. S. (2010). Strategies to read and learn: Overcoming learning by consumption. Medical Education, 44(4), 340–346. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03550.x On free recall and retrieval: Agarwal, P. K., Nunes, L. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2021). Retrieval Practice Consistently Benefits Student Learning: A Systematic Review of Applied Research in Schools and Classrooms. Educational Psychology Review, 33(4), 1409–1453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09595-9 Roediger, H. L., & Butler, A. C. (2011). The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 20–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.09.003 Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science, 319(5865), 966–968. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1152408 On the value of "spacing things out" AKA long inter-study intervals, see: Latimier, A., Peyre, H., & Ramus, F. (2021). A Meta-Analytic Review of the Benefit of Spacing out Retrieval Practice Episodes on Retention. Educational Psychology Review, 33(3), 959–987. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09572-8 Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354 Acknowledgements: Image of Liu Bang (founding emperor of the Han Dynasty) comes from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Liu-bang.jpg. It’s actually a Ming-era depiction Image of Xiang Yu (Liu Bang’s rival) comes from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xiang_Yu.jpg Xuanzang image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xuanzang_w.jpg Xuanzang’s route: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xuanzang_route.jpg Zhang Qian’s route: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Han_Expansion.png Zheng He’s ships: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ZhengHeShips.gif Zheng He’s route: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Voyages_of_Zheng_He.png (author: SY) Topographic map: https://en-us.topographic-map.com/map-pxv3q/China/ </video> <video> What is mathematical thinking actually like? Description: A big impediment to effective learning happens when we misunderstand the nature of what we're trying to learn. Here is an example of (amateur) mathematical thinking in action and some observations about what we're really doing when we're thinking mathematically. 00:00 Intro 00:22 The square-jumping story begins 2:40 A side-note about parity 3:40 A different way of thinking about the same thing 5:04 Another extension 6:24 What did we learn? GiveInternet donation link: https://giveinternet.org/BenjaminKeep Join my online learning community, here: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my (free and infrequent) newsletter, here: www.benjaminkeep.com Edited by Presage: https://www.presage.media/ Big shout-out to Presage Media on this one. This was an animation-heavy video and I love what they did. References: I don't have any direct citations, but here are two interesting pieces about mathematical thinking that I have read in the past year. Stylianou, D. A., & Silver, E. A. (2004). The role of visual representations in advanced mathematical problem solving: An examination of expert-novice similarities and differences. Mathematical thinking and learning, 6(4), 353-387. Arcavi, A. (2003). The role of visual representations in the learning of mathematics. Educational studies in mathematics, 52(3), 215-241. </video> <video> Learning scientist learns how to cook Description: A lot of the research on learning focuses on learning in the classroom. But what about all the other stuff we need to learn? Here are some thoughts on learning how to cook. 00:00 Introduction 0:29 Cognitive load theory 3:17 Retrieval practice 4:17 Skill analysis 6:12 Deliberate practice 8:25 Leveraging prior knowledge NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Edited by Presage: https://pre-sage.com. Sign up to my newsletter here: http://www.benjaminkeep.com. </video> <video> What makes something memorable? Description: This is my "everything I know about encoding" video. Well, not quite everything. But best I could do in 45 minutes. 00:00 Introduction 00:46 What can we encode? 1:46 Two issues in encoding research 4:43 Depth of processing 9:17 The generation effect 13:31 Imagery 17:28 Memory palaces and “time palaces” 20:10 The drawing effect 23:36 Distinctiveness 27:50 Value 31:42 Integration 37:17 Transfer appropriate processing 43:32 The complete list of themes NEW! Join my new learning community: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Edited by Presage: https://pre-sage.com. References: Perhaps this goes without saying, but each of the issues that I mention are considerably more nuanced than how I've presented them here. But hopefully the video gives you the basic ideas so that you can dive in further, if you want. Depth of processing: Craik, F. I., & Tulving, E. (1975). Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. Journal of experimental Psychology: general, 104(3), 268. Generation: Bertsch, S., Pesta, B. J., Wiscott, R., & McDaniel, M. A. (2007). The generation effect: A meta-analytic review. Memory & cognition, 35, 201-210. Imagery: Leopold, C., & Mayer, R. E. (2015). An imagination effect in learning from scientific text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(1), 47–63. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037142 "Time palaces" and memory palaces Bouffard, N., Stokes, J., Kramer, H. J., & Ekstrom, A. D. (2018). Temporal encoding strategies result in boosts to final free recall performance comparable to spatial ones. Memory & Cognition, 46(1), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-017-0742-z Value and encoding: Hennessee, J. P., Patterson, T. K., Castel, A. D., & Knowlton, B. J. (2019). Forget me not: Encoding processes in value-directed remembering. Journal of Memory and Language, 106, 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.02.001 Drawing: Fernandes, M. A., Wammes, J. D., & Meade, M. E. (2018). The Surprisingly Powerful Influence of Drawing on Memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(5), 302–308. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418755385 Wammes, J. D., Meade, M. E., & Fernandes, M. A. (2016). The drawing effect: Evidence for reliable and robust memory benefits in free recall. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(9), 1752–1776. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2015.1094494 Acting things out: Engelkamp, J., & Zimmer, H. D. (1997). Sensory factors in memory for subject-performed tasks. Acta Psychologica, 96(1-2), 43-60. Production and distinctiveness: Ozubko, J. D., & MacLeod, C. M. (2010). The production effect in memory: evidence that distinctiveness underlies the benefit. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(6), 1543. Integration and self-explanations: Chi, M. T., Bassok, M., Lewis, M. W., Reimann, P., & Glaser, R. (1989). Self-explanations: How students study and use examples in learning to solve problems. Cognitive Science, 13(2), 145–182. Renkl, A. (2002). Worked-out examples: Instructional explanations support learning by self-explanations. Learning and instruction, 12(5), 529-556. Integration and video games/passages: Arena, D. A., & Schwartz, D. L. (2014). Experience and explanation: Using videogames to prepare students for formal instruction in statistics. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 23, 538-548. Schwartz, D. L., & Bransford, J. D. (1998). A time for telling. Cognition and Instruction, 16(4), 475–5223. Transfer appropriate processing: Morris, C. D., Bransford, J. D., & Franks, J. J. (1977). Levels of processing versus transfer appropriate processing. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 16(5), 519–533. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(77)80016-9 </video> <video> The Secrets to College Success - with Joshua Smith of Loyola University Description: I think that if you approach college in the right way, you can get a lot out of it. So how should we approach it? Joshua Smith, former dean of the School of Education and current faculty member at Loyola University, offers his thoughts to help you get the most out of the college experience. 00:00 Introduction 1:05 What does it mean to be successful in college? 8:02 What college seniors wish they would have done differently 14:42 Understanding the teacher's perspective 23:18 On developing relationships with teachers 30:28 Key skills that many college students lack 46:42 Changes to the higher ed that will affect college students 51:48 Advice for the student doing 100% online learning 54:44 Some perspective from Josh Join my online learning community, here: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my (free and infrequent) newsletter, here: www.benjaminkeep.com Edited by Presage: https://www.presage.media/ Special thanks to Josh for joining me here! I support an organization called GiveInternet.org (https://giveinternet.org/) that provides internet access and educational opportunities to students in need worldwide. Learn more at https://giveinternet.org/. If you choose to donate, please use this donation link to double your impact: https://giveinternet.org/BenjaminKeep. </video> <video> Research Reveals 4 Surprising Facts About Learning Description: Scientific research often requires us to rethink how things work. Here a four facts that get us thinking the right way about how learning works. 00:00 Fact 1 1:07 Fact 2 3:13 Fact 3 5:06 Fact 4 6:53 A cool thing to do My giveinternet.org link: https://giveinternet.org/BenjaminKeep I have a course in my learning community where I go into much more depth about the research on learning. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/bens-learning-community Sign up to my (infrequent, free) newsletter here: www.benjaminkeep.com Edited by Presage Media: https://www.presage.media/ References On the testing effect: Karpicke, J. D. (2012). Retrieval-Based Learning: Active Retrieval Promotes Meaningful Learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(3), 157–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721412443552 Pan, S. C., & Rickard, T. C. (2018). Transfer of test-enhanced learning: Meta-analytic review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 144(7), 710–756. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000151 (testing effects do transfer) Jensen, J. L., McDaniel, M. A., Kummer, T. A., Godoy, P. D. D. M., & St. Clair, B. (2020). Testing Effect on High-Level Cognitive Skills. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 19(3), ar39. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-10-0193 (testing effect works for “high-level” questions; not just low-level questions) On the deceptiveness of immediate measures, see: Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society, 2(59-68). On the importance of prior knowledge and for an interesting overview of how learning works: John Bransford, Nancy Vye, Reed Stevens, Pat Kuhl, Daniel Schwartz, et al.. Learning Theories and Education: Toward a Decade of Synergy. P. Alexander & P. Winne. Handbook of Educational Psychology (2nd Edition), Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum., 95 p., 2005. ffhal-00190628f. https://telearn.hal.science/hal-00190628/document On the fraction study: Patel, R., Liu, R., & Koedinger, K. R. (2016). When to Block versus Interleave Practice? Evidence Against Teaching Fraction Addition before Fraction Multiplication. In CogSci. For other ideas about ordering effects, see: Schwartz, D. L., & Bransford, J. D. (1998). A time for telling. Cognition and instruction, 16(4), 475-5223. https://aaalab.stanford.edu/assets/papers/earlier/A_time_for_telling.pdf Fyfe, E. R., DeCaro, M. S., & Rittle‐Johnson, B. (2014). An alternative time for telling: When conceptual instruction prior to problem solving improves mathematical knowledge. British journal of educational psychology, 84(3), 502-519. https://louisville.edu/psychology/decaro/lab/publications-2/FyfeDeCaroRittleJohnson2014_BJEP.pdf </video>

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Insights into learning, science, and society. For teachers, students and the science-curious.

I’m a cognitive scientist specializing in learning and instruction. I focus on how to develop expert reasoning skills and what the heck this beautiful, fascinating thing called science is.

You’ll also find videos on social science research methods and bigger picture stuff, like how social systems produce scientific knowledge and why that knowledge sometimes goes ignored or misapplied.

I have a PhD in learning sciences and technology design from Stanford and a law degree from Cornell.

You can read more at www.benjaminkeep.com and sign up to my email newsletter there.

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