Powerful Learning
In Powerful Teaching, authors Pooja K. Agarwhal and Patrice M. Bain lay out an approach to classroom instruction based on what they call "the four power tools." Drawn from the work of cognitive psychologists (chief of whom seems to be Robert A. Bjork), these strategies are:
1. "Retrieval practice," which occurs when students draw information, ideas, and insights from their own minds.
2. "Spaced practice," which involves spreading periods of active engagement with a concept over a relatively long period of time.
3. "Interleaving," in which learners simultaneously engage material belonging to several closely-related subjects.
4. "Feedback-driven metacognition," which happens when students to reflect upon what they want to learn, how they learn, and what they have learned.
In the course of my "bookstore reconnaissance" of Powerful Teaching, I was struck by the degree to which the methods suggested in the book corresponded to things that happen when students work through courses composed of decision-forcing cases. In particular, when answering cold calls, students engage in a great deal of "retrieval practice." When revisiting phenomena that appear in several decision-forcing cases, students experience "spaced practice." When making sense of complex phenomena and devising custom-tailored solutions to unique problems, students do a great deal of "interleaving." When reflecting upon the experience of devising, describing, and defending solutions to a problem once faced by a real-world decision-maker, students take part in "feedback-driven metacognition."
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