I’m Writing a Book on the Science of Learning (update: 400-page working draft is freely available)

With the science of learning, it's less about "keeping up" with what's happening, and more about "catching up" with what's already happened.

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I’m writing a book on the science of learning – so far, 386 pages and 172 scientific references (and counting).

It’s shocking how much we know about how learning happens, all the way down to the mechanics of what’s going on in the brain.

And it’s not just how learning happens, but also, what we can do to improve learning.

There are plenty of learning-enhancing practice strategies that have been tested scientifically, numerous times, and are completely replicable. They might as well be laws of physics.

After reading the working draft, a common reaction is “Wow, the field of education is experiencing a revolution! How do I keep up with the latest research coming out in the science of learning?”

But here’s the thing: even though you might read a bunch of new information in the draft, the field isn’t really as fast-moving as it might seem.

Most key findings have been known for many decades – it’s just that they’re not widely known / circulated outside the niche fields of cognitive science & talent development, not even in seemingly adjacent fields like education.

These findings are not taught in school, and typically not even in credentialing programs for teachers themselves – no wonder they’re unheard of!

But if you just do a literature review on Google Scholar, all the research is right there – and it’s been around for many decades.

It’s not like ML/AI where there’s a firehose of groundbreaking research and the field is changing by the month.

With the science of learning, it’s less about “keeping up” with what’s happening, and more about “catching up” with what’s already happened.

Want to catch up? Check out the working draft here.

Want to get notified about new posts? Join the mailing list and follow on X/Twitter.