Just as teachers benefit from an understanding of the Learning Sciences in their lesson planning and preparation, so to do students when they are studying for major summative assessments.

A survey of TGS students in Years 9 to 12 found that 70% of our boys felt that they knew how to study, with the biggest impediments to study being lack of motivation and too many distractions. The most highly preferred study technique was found to be rewriting notes. Cramming, rereading the text and rewriting notes have been demonstrated to have low utility when it comes to learning and students who repeatedly use these three techniques will find their confidence in their capacity to study and learn decrease over time. So, despite students reporting that they knew how to study, 70% of the surveyed students were reliant on low utility methods.

Toowoomba Grammar School has partnered with A Learner’s Toolkit, an evidence-based program designed to use the principles of the learning sciences to teach students how to use their study time to greatest effect. By providing them with a suite of study skills and an understanding of why they work, students are empowered to take better control of their learning. By having a greater range of high efficacy skills and study behaviours the learning return for study time invested by the students can increase significantly.

The program has been initially introduced into the Years 9 and 10 Well Being and Character Development (WCD) Program. It will be extended into Years 7 and 8 in 2024, when WCD is introduced to those year levels. Students in Years 11 and 12 are introduced to the concepts through their QCE Skills lessons.

The study skills are taught with a focus on a curriculum area; the evidence suggests that students will embed the strategies and have true changes in the learning behaviours when they are presented in context. The embedding of these skills is further supported by all teachers understanding the learning sciences and the ability to reinforce the skills through their curriculum.

There are six study strategies within A Learner’s Toolkit:

Read it involves purposeful, active reading to construct meaning and make connections. Simple strategies such as using Cornell Notes ensure that students are thoughtful about the information they consume and make meaningful notes and summaries.

Retrieve it shows retrieval is the top cognitive strategy to fight forgetting. Retrieval practice involves the deliberate recall of information from the long-term memory. Strategies for retrieval practice include a quick review (work from yesterday, last week, last month) and practice tests.

Space it focuses on spaced practice and is aligned with retrieval practice. By spacing out the retrieval, students are not tempted to cram and will benefit in their capacity to retrieve the information over time. Ideally in an 8–10 week term, students should be retrieving every 8-10 days.

Jumble it is also known as interleaving. By changing the study order, students can make greater connections, such as similarities and differences and can help scaffold problem solving. Strategies include the use of flash cards or online quizzes.

Visualise it uses the principle of dual coding; the fact that the brain processes textual and visual information through different pathways, so by tapping into this skill, students can get twice the potential learning for their effort. Strategies include graphic organisers, mind maps and creating sketches.

Connect it is a simple way of describing elaborative interrogation – explaining the concepts in detail and making connections. This helps students build schemas in their mind which deepens their understanding and their capacity to apply their knowledge. Strategies include deliberately seeking the connections; determining how the different ideas work together. Another great way to deepen the understanding and identify connections is to work through a questioning framework, What, How Why.

- by Dr Alison Young, Director of Studies