Applying Cognitive Science to Your Teaching:
Retrieval practice, Space, and Interleaving

Understanding how students learn is an important part of being an effective instructor. In this workshop, participants will examine how to translate three principles from cognitive science to their teaching: 1) retrieval practice—deliberately recalling information from memory, 2) spacing—returning to a concept over time, and 3) interleaving—switching between learning about similar ideas. We will consider ways to apply these principles to designing the structure of a course, implementing in-class activities, and creating homework assignments.

This workshop is part of the Center for Teaching and Learning Developing Essential Teaching Skills workshop series for postdocs. Participation in this workshop contributes toward the Professional Development in Teaching Program.