Duration-Path-Outcome; Cognitive Load; Depth of Processing; 4 Ways to Learn
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The Science of Learning;
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Guiding Principles: Evidence-based Considerations for Enhancing Learning
Note: The research-based considerations below can expedite learning and skill acquisition in a broad range of domains - they are not limited to language learning.
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4 Ways to Learn: When it comes to learning, it is important that teachers understand the 4 main ways people learn.
Novelty: The human brain loves novelty. So, anything new or fresh is prone to pique interest, and interest leads to learning.
Repetition + Recall: Decades of research shows that repetition is important for learning and achieving mastery. However, research also confirms the vital role recall plays in learning. The benefits of repetition can be fortified with activities that encourage learners to recall the to-be-learned material, as opposed to simply engaging in more bouts of repetition. The more often you attempt to recall a to-be-learned item, the quicker you will learn it.
Note: By its very nature, recall generates a lot of errors – so explain to your learners that is a normal, and a vital part of learning.
Emotional Resonance: It is easier to learn if you are emotionally invested in the learning process. If something is emotionally arousing (good or bad), or if something is of significant importance, then learning is more likely to happen. This is one reason clear goals that have a significant level of importance are often important for adult learners.
Association: Learning new things is easier when these new things map onto existing schemas in the mind. Activate and build schemas when necessary. Connect to-be-learned material with previously learned material, or to something of relevance to the learner.
Duration, Path, and Outcome: Knowing your DPOs is key. DPOs help guide your learning process by setting out what you want to learn (Outcome), the strategy you will use to learn (Path), and how long you will allocate to that specific section of your class/lesson (Duration). Personally, I have 2 or 3 DPOs per class – this gives me a structure and makes it clear for my learners what we are going to do.
Duration: How long will the learning bout take?
Path: What strategy/task/activity will be used?
Outcome: What is the expected learning outcome?
If you do not know your DPOs for the lesson, then you are making it harder on yourself.
Note: DPOs are not set in stone. They can be adjusted during the class. For example, if I have a DPO set for 20 minutes, playing number battleship, with the goal of practicing six-digit numbers, but my learners are really focused and engaged, I continue with that DPO for a while longer. Why? Simply put, if my learners are engaged and focused, they are learning or consolidating. However, in saying that, I might also add an additional challenge to the current DPO the learners are engaged in – in my current example I might now add a seven-digit number or set a time limit to encourage fluency.
* I heard the phrase Duration-Path-Outcome on a podcast hosted by famed Stanford University neuroscientist, Dr Andrew Huberman. Although there is no propriety on this phrase, it is important to give credit where credit is due.
Focus and Attention: If the incoming stimulus is not attended to (engaged with in some way), then it is of little use. The neuroscience on this is pretty clear – without attention and focus, very little gets learned. As such, ensure your learners are focusing and attending to the to-be-learned material and actively engaging with the learning task. This can be done by making the content interesting, and the learning tasks and activities appealing. Passive learning is not a thing!
“Of all the factors that influence learning, attention to the learned material may be the most important” (Posner & Rothbart, 2014, p.14).
Zone of Proximal Development: The ZPD (Vygotsky, 1978) represents the distance between what a learner can do unsupported and what a learner can achieve with the help of a more knowledgeable other (i.e., coach, mentor, teacher). A fundamental consideration for all educators, I use the ZPD concept to guide the level of challenge and desirable difficulty I impose on my learners. I also use it to inform my in-class DPOs (see above), and the out-of-class purposeful practice I recommend.
Consider the Cognitive Load: Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) (Sweller, 2010) is a theory of learning which places primacy on working memory and attention, and asserts that in order to achieve the greatest learning outcomes, educators need to account for the limitations of the learner’s cognitive system when designing and implementing learning protocols (Hughes, Costley, & Lange, 2021; Sweller et al., 2011).
The three types of cognitive load are as follows:
Extraneous load: Cognitive resources devoted to elements that do not contribute to learning
Germane load: The amount of cognitive effort devoted to learning (and the way our approaches impact this effort)
Intrinsic load: The cognitive demands inherent to the to-be-learned material or task
“Recent research exploring CLT as it relates to second language learning advocates not only for employing educational practices which reduce the amount of extraneous load, but also for designing and implementing learning protocols aimed at increasing germane load to foster more effective learning” (Wedlock & Binnie, in press).
Quality Input: Not all input is equal. The best input is compelling, comprehensible, and suited to the learner’s level. However, they key thing is, the input must be attended to – see the points on Focus and Depth of Processing.
Note: It is important to point out that comprehending a story or message is not the same as comprehending the linguistic content of that story or message. To put it another way, a learner might be able to comprehend the message (e.g., understand the story), but be unable to comprehend various linguistic elements (e.g., certain vocabulary items) contained in the message. What does this mean? It means, just because a learner can comprehend the stimuli, it does not necessarily mean that they can comprehend the language, as they could be using schematic knowledge or relevant context clues to comprehend the story/message, and not attending to the linguistic input. Therefore, it is important that educators don't conflate global comprehension with the processing and comprehension of the linguistic input – they are not the same.
Desirable Difficulty: If it is easy to learn, it is probably easy to forget. If it is harder to learn, and requires effort, then it is probably harder to forget. This is why the point about depth of processing is vital. Building upon this, research has confirmed there are certain educational practices which are more officious at promoting learning than others. Spaced repetition (which requires recall). Testing to learn (which also requires recall). Interleaving. Think, pair, share. Prediction generations. Free recall.
“A problem teachers and trainers confront—and a problem we all confront in managing our own learning—is that conditions of instruction or practice that make performance improve rapidly often fail to support long-term retention and transfer, whereas conditions of instruction that appear to create difficulties for the learner, slowing the rate of apparent learning, often optimize long-term retention and transfer” (Bjork & Kroll, 2015, p.2).
Depth of Processing: The deeper one processes incoming stimuli, the more chance they have of learning it. Simply having the target language on in the background will do very little, if anything, to promote language learning. Sure, you might pick up a word or two – but for real learning to take place, you must process and manipulate the input. Encourage activities and tasks that require the comprehension and use of new target items in a number of ways. Effort equals results!
“[T]he processing that a student consciously engages in determines what will be encoded into memory and retained” (Kirschner & Hendrik, 2020, p. 28).
Deliberate Practice: Just like not all input is equal, not all practice is equal.
Naïve Practice: Sadly, this form of practice is the most common. It can be defined as simply going through the motions, with limited effort invested in improving one’s knowledge or performance. This type of mindless practice is of limited use for improving one’s ability.
Purposeful Practice: Although not done in the presence of an educator or coach, purposeful practice can be viewed as an intentional effort on behalf of the learner to improve their knowledge or performance in a certain domain. This type of practice is very important for out-of-class learning.
Deliberate Practice: Requiring the skills and knowledge of an expert coach or educator, deliberate practice has proven to result in more robust learning outcomes and higher levels of competence in a range of different domains.
Deliberate practice is -“Effortful practice, which is aimed at improving one’s skill or knowledge, involves the provision of immediate feedback, time for problem-solving and evaluation, and opportunities for repeated performance to refine behavior.” - Adapted from Ericsson (2008), and Ericsson & Pool (2016)
I personally try to ensure my learners do one deliberate practice DPO in every class I teach. Generally, this DPO will last between 15-25 minutes. And I do this because deliberate practice is the gold standard of practice.
Note: I highly recommend the book Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise (Ericsson & Pool, 2016) for those interested in knowing more about the crucial role deliberate practice plays in learning.
Effective Feedback: There is no question feedback is important. However, feedback without learner action is of little utility. With this being the case, providing effective feedback (i.e., feedback that that is processed and acted upon by the learner) and feedforward (i.e., advice and direction that supports development and future learning) is generally more effective in supporting learning than simply providing feedback requiring limited processing or reformative action. By combining feedback with feedforward your learners have a better opportunity to develop their abilities. .
Achievable / Optimal Challenge: Research has constantly shown that when students succeed in overcoming a challenge, they are more inclined to take on even greater learning challenges. Conversely, if a student continuously fails to overcome a learning challenge, they are more likely to give up and lose motivation. As such, I believe in setting achievable / optimal challenges for my students – challenges they can overcome with a little effort, but not so challenging that they lose motivation. I do this because overcoming achievable challenges has been shown to foster feelings of self-efficacy, increases motivation, and results in learners investing more focus and effort into achieving a learning goal. In short, success breeds success!
Affective Engagement: It is no secret that people learn best when they feel comfortable in the learning environment. Not only has this been noted anecdotally, but it has also been confirmed by research exploring emotions and learning. With this being true, it is important to care for your learners, inject and element of fun into your classes, and provide a supportive learning environment. Does this mean you have to become a performer or a comic? Not at all. All it means is you need to show your learners you care about them as people. A word of encouragement here. A joke there. Showing your own fallibility is also important, since it shows you are human. People like to learn with and from people they like.
Quality Out-of-Class Learning: Many researchers write about which out-of-class learning affordances are available to learners, but very few write about how to effectively engage with these affordances. In short, educators need to develop a) the ability to use a range of various technologies suitable for out-of-class learning so they are in a better position to coach their learners as to how to use them, b) develop a sound understanding of the role purposeful practice can play in supporting learning (see above), and c) work with their students to implement effective and manageable out-of-class learning strategies and tasks to best help them reach their language learning goals.
Understand The Symbiotic Relationship Between the Neurobiological and Psychological Processes that Underpin Learning: If you truly want to be an effective educator, you need to understand the symbiotic relationship that exist between the neurobiological and the psychological processes that facilitate learning. In brief, since learning is fundamentally a neurobiological process, then “the ability of a teaching technique to harness the processes in a student’s brain that support the formation and retrieval of long-term memories will help determine that technique’s effectiveness in promoting that student’s learning” (Owens & Tanner, 2017, p. 7). Now, with said, how does this feed into the psychological processes?
It is crucial to understand that once an educator knows how to design and implement effective learning tasks that result in visible learning and allows students to overcome manageable challenges, then motivation, engagement, and one's sense of self-efficacy increases (i.e., the psychological aspects are positively impacted).
In a nutshell, the psychological aspects (e.g., motivation, self-efficacy) involved in learning are fed by the neurobiological aspects (e.g., neurochemicals such as dopamine and acetylcholine) which in turn feed the the psychological aspects, thus creating a virtuous cycle.
Understand What Fun Actually Is: So many teachers claim they want their classes to be "fun", because for some reason they are under the false impression that fun somehow equates to robust learning. To go on a bit of a rant, fun classes do not necessarily equate to solid learning outcomes; engaging classes that allow the learners to overcome optimal challenges, take on desirable difficulties, and embrace failure as part of the learning process, on the other hand, usually do (oh, and they are usually "fun" also). I can honestly say, when I teach children (which I do a lot of), I design every single learning activity with the neurobiological factors that support the learning process in mind (remembering to consider my DPOs). The outcome - engaged kids who not only enjoy learning, but also get tangible results.
MINI-LECTURE COMING SOON!!!
Note: The research-based considerations below can expedite learning and skill acquisition in a broad range of domains - they are not limited to language learning.
.
4 Ways to Learn: When it comes to learning, it is important that teachers understand the 4 main ways people learn.
Novelty: The human brain loves novelty. So, anything new or fresh is prone to pique interest, and interest leads to learning.
Repetition + Recall: Decades of research shows that repetition is important for learning and achieving mastery. However, research also confirms the vital role recall plays in learning. The benefits of repetition can be fortified with activities that encourage learners to recall the to-be-learned material, as opposed to simply engaging in more bouts of repetition. The more often you attempt to recall a to-be-learned item, the quicker you will learn it.
Note: By its very nature, recall generates a lot of errors – so explain to your learners that is a normal, and a vital part of learning.
Emotional Resonance: It is easier to learn if you are emotionally invested in the learning process. If something is emotionally arousing (good or bad), or if something is of significant importance, then learning is more likely to happen. This is one reason clear goals that have a significant level of importance are often important for adult learners.
Association: Learning new things is easier when these new things map onto existing schemas in the mind. Activate and build schemas when necessary. Connect to-be-learned material with previously learned material, or to something of relevance to the learner.
Duration, Path, and Outcome: Knowing your DPOs is key. DPOs help guide your learning process by setting out what you want to learn (Outcome), the strategy you will use to learn (Path), and how long you will allocate to that specific section of your class/lesson (Duration). Personally, I have 2 or 3 DPOs per class – this gives me a structure and makes it clear for my learners what we are going to do.
Duration: How long will the learning bout take?
Path: What strategy/task/activity will be used?
Outcome: What is the expected learning outcome?
If you do not know your DPOs for the lesson, then you are making it harder on yourself.
Note: DPOs are not set in stone. They can be adjusted during the class. For example, if I have a DPO set for 20 minutes, playing number battleship, with the goal of practicing six-digit numbers, but my learners are really focused and engaged, I continue with that DPO for a while longer. Why? Simply put, if my learners are engaged and focused, they are learning or consolidating. However, in saying that, I might also add an additional challenge to the current DPO the learners are engaged in – in my current example I might now add a seven-digit number or set a time limit to encourage fluency.
* I heard the phrase Duration-Path-Outcome on a podcast hosted by famed Stanford University neuroscientist, Dr Andrew Huberman. Although there is no propriety on this phrase, it is important to give credit where credit is due.
Focus and Attention: If the incoming stimulus is not attended to (engaged with in some way), then it is of little use. The neuroscience on this is pretty clear – without attention and focus, very little gets learned. As such, ensure your learners are focusing and attending to the to-be-learned material and actively engaging with the learning task. This can be done by making the content interesting, and the learning tasks and activities appealing. Passive learning is not a thing!
“Of all the factors that influence learning, attention to the learned material may be the most important” (Posner & Rothbart, 2014, p.14).
Zone of Proximal Development: The ZPD (Vygotsky, 1978) represents the distance between what a learner can do unsupported and what a learner can achieve with the help of a more knowledgeable other (i.e., coach, mentor, teacher). A fundamental consideration for all educators, I use the ZPD concept to guide the level of challenge and desirable difficulty I impose on my learners. I also use it to inform my in-class DPOs (see above), and the out-of-class purposeful practice I recommend.
Consider the Cognitive Load: Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) (Sweller, 2010) is a theory of learning which places primacy on working memory and attention, and asserts that in order to achieve the greatest learning outcomes, educators need to account for the limitations of the learner’s cognitive system when designing and implementing learning protocols (Hughes, Costley, & Lange, 2021; Sweller et al., 2011).
The three types of cognitive load are as follows:
Extraneous load: Cognitive resources devoted to elements that do not contribute to learning
Germane load: The amount of cognitive effort devoted to learning (and the way our approaches impact this effort)
Intrinsic load: The cognitive demands inherent to the to-be-learned material or task
“Recent research exploring CLT as it relates to second language learning advocates not only for employing educational practices which reduce the amount of extraneous load, but also for designing and implementing learning protocols aimed at increasing germane load to foster more effective learning” (Wedlock & Binnie, in press).
Quality Input: Not all input is equal. The best input is compelling, comprehensible, and suited to the learner’s level. However, they key thing is, the input must be attended to – see the points on Focus and Depth of Processing.
Note: It is important to point out that comprehending a story or message is not the same as comprehending the linguistic content of that story or message. To put it another way, a learner might be able to comprehend the message (e.g., understand the story), but be unable to comprehend various linguistic elements (e.g., certain vocabulary items) contained in the message. What does this mean? It means, just because a learner can comprehend the stimuli, it does not necessarily mean that they can comprehend the language, as they could be using schematic knowledge or relevant context clues to comprehend the story/message, and not attending to the linguistic input. Therefore, it is important that educators don't conflate global comprehension with the processing and comprehension of the linguistic input – they are not the same.
Desirable Difficulty: If it is easy to learn, it is probably easy to forget. If it is harder to learn, and requires effort, then it is probably harder to forget. This is why the point about depth of processing is vital. Building upon this, research has confirmed there are certain educational practices which are more officious at promoting learning than others. Spaced repetition (which requires recall). Testing to learn (which also requires recall). Interleaving. Think, pair, share. Prediction generations. Free recall.
“A problem teachers and trainers confront—and a problem we all confront in managing our own learning—is that conditions of instruction or practice that make performance improve rapidly often fail to support long-term retention and transfer, whereas conditions of instruction that appear to create difficulties for the learner, slowing the rate of apparent learning, often optimize long-term retention and transfer” (Bjork & Kroll, 2015, p.2).
Depth of Processing: The deeper one processes incoming stimuli, the more chance they have of learning it. Simply having the target language on in the background will do very little, if anything, to promote language learning. Sure, you might pick up a word or two – but for real learning to take place, you must process and manipulate the input. Encourage activities and tasks that require the comprehension and use of new target items in a number of ways. Effort equals results!
“[T]he processing that a student consciously engages in determines what will be encoded into memory and retained” (Kirschner & Hendrik, 2020, p. 28).
Deliberate Practice: Just like not all input is equal, not all practice is equal.
Naïve Practice: Sadly, this form of practice is the most common. It can be defined as simply going through the motions, with limited effort invested in improving one’s knowledge or performance. This type of mindless practice is of limited use for improving one’s ability.
Purposeful Practice: Although not done in the presence of an educator or coach, purposeful practice can be viewed as an intentional effort on behalf of the learner to improve their knowledge or performance in a certain domain. This type of practice is very important for out-of-class learning.
Deliberate Practice: Requiring the skills and knowledge of an expert coach or educator, deliberate practice has proven to result in more robust learning outcomes and higher levels of competence in a range of different domains.
Deliberate practice is -“Effortful practice, which is aimed at improving one’s skill or knowledge, involves the provision of immediate feedback, time for problem-solving and evaluation, and opportunities for repeated performance to refine behavior.” - Adapted from Ericsson (2008), and Ericsson & Pool (2016)
I personally try to ensure my learners do one deliberate practice DPO in every class I teach. Generally, this DPO will last between 15-25 minutes. And I do this because deliberate practice is the gold standard of practice.
Note: I highly recommend the book Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise (Ericsson & Pool, 2016) for those interested in knowing more about the crucial role deliberate practice plays in learning.
Effective Feedback: There is no question feedback is important. However, feedback without learner action is of little utility. With this being the case, providing effective feedback (i.e., feedback that that is processed and acted upon by the learner) and feedforward (i.e., advice and direction that supports development and future learning) is generally more effective in supporting learning than simply providing feedback requiring limited processing or reformative action. By combining feedback with feedforward your learners have a better opportunity to develop their abilities. .
Achievable / Optimal Challenge: Research has constantly shown that when students succeed in overcoming a challenge, they are more inclined to take on even greater learning challenges. Conversely, if a student continuously fails to overcome a learning challenge, they are more likely to give up and lose motivation. As such, I believe in setting achievable / optimal challenges for my students – challenges they can overcome with a little effort, but not so challenging that they lose motivation. I do this because overcoming achievable challenges has been shown to foster feelings of self-efficacy, increases motivation, and results in learners investing more focus and effort into achieving a learning goal. In short, success breeds success!
Affective Engagement: It is no secret that people learn best when they feel comfortable in the learning environment. Not only has this been noted anecdotally, but it has also been confirmed by research exploring emotions and learning. With this being true, it is important to care for your learners, inject and element of fun into your classes, and provide a supportive learning environment. Does this mean you have to become a performer or a comic? Not at all. All it means is you need to show your learners you care about them as people. A word of encouragement here. A joke there. Showing your own fallibility is also important, since it shows you are human. People like to learn with and from people they like.
Quality Out-of-Class Learning: Many researchers write about which out-of-class learning affordances are available to learners, but very few write about how to effectively engage with these affordances. In short, educators need to develop a) the ability to use a range of various technologies suitable for out-of-class learning so they are in a better position to coach their learners as to how to use them, b) develop a sound understanding of the role purposeful practice can play in supporting learning (see above), and c) work with their students to implement effective and manageable out-of-class learning strategies and tasks to best help them reach their language learning goals.
Understand The Symbiotic Relationship Between the Neurobiological and Psychological Processes that Underpin Learning: If you truly want to be an effective educator, you need to understand the symbiotic relationship that exist between the neurobiological and the psychological processes that facilitate learning. In brief, since learning is fundamentally a neurobiological process, then “the ability of a teaching technique to harness the processes in a student’s brain that support the formation and retrieval of long-term memories will help determine that technique’s effectiveness in promoting that student’s learning” (Owens & Tanner, 2017, p. 7). Now, with said, how does this feed into the psychological processes?
It is crucial to understand that once an educator knows how to design and implement effective learning tasks that result in visible learning and allows students to overcome manageable challenges, then motivation, engagement, and one's sense of self-efficacy increases (i.e., the psychological aspects are positively impacted).
In a nutshell, the psychological aspects (e.g., motivation, self-efficacy) involved in learning are fed by the neurobiological aspects (e.g., neurochemicals such as dopamine and acetylcholine) which in turn feed the the psychological aspects, thus creating a virtuous cycle.
Understand What Fun Actually Is: So many teachers claim they want their classes to be "fun", because for some reason they are under the false impression that fun somehow equates to robust learning. To go on a bit of a rant, fun classes do not necessarily equate to solid learning outcomes; engaging classes that allow the learners to overcome optimal challenges, take on desirable difficulties, and embrace failure as part of the learning process, on the other hand, usually do (oh, and they are usually "fun" also). I can honestly say, when I teach children (which I do a lot of), I design every single learning activity with the neurobiological factors that support the learning process in mind (remembering to consider my DPOs). The outcome - engaged kids who not only enjoy learning, but also get tangible results.
MINI-LECTURE COMING SOON!!!
References
Bjork, R. A., & Kroll, J. F. (2015). Desirable Difficulties in Vocabulary Learning. The American journal of psychology, 128(2), 241–252. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.128.2.0241
Craik, F. I., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 11(6), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(72)80001-X
Ericsson, A., & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise. Random House
Hughes, C. J., Costley, J., & Lange, C. (2021). The relationship between attention and extraneous load. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition, 7(2), 61–82.
Kirschner, P. A., & Hendrick, C. (2020). How learning happens: Seminal works in educational psychology and what they mean in practice. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429061523
Krashen, S., & Bland, J. (2014). Compelling comprehensible input, academic language and school libraries. CLELE Journal, 2(2), 1–12.
Krashen, S., & Mason, B. (2020). The optimal input hypothesis: Not all comprehensible input is of equal value. CATESOL Newsletter,5.
Owens, M. T., & Tanner, K. D. (2017). Teaching as brain changing: Exploring connections between neuroscience and innovative teaching. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(2), fe2.
Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (2014). Attention to learning of school subjects. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 3(1), 14–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2014.02.003
Schmidt, R. (2012). Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning. Perspectives on individual characteristics and foreign language education, 6, 27. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614510932.27
Suzuki, Y., Nakata, T., & Dekeyser, R. (2019). The desirable difficulty framework as a theoretical foundation for optimizing and researching second language practice. The Modern Language Journal, 103(3), 713-720.
Sweller, J. (2010). Element interactivity and intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Educational psychology review, 22(2), 123–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9128-5
Sweller, J. (2017). Cognitive load theory and teaching English as a second language to adult learners. Contact Magazine, 43(1), 10–14.
Wedlock, J., & Binnie, C. (in press). Selecting and Using Authentic Videos for Intentional Second Language Learning: Nine Considerations. English Australia Journal
Watabe-Uchida, M., Eshel, N., & Uchida, N. (2017). Neural circuitry of reward prediction error. Annual review of neuroscience, 40, 373-394.
Bjork, R. A., & Kroll, J. F. (2015). Desirable Difficulties in Vocabulary Learning. The American journal of psychology, 128(2), 241–252. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.128.2.0241
Craik, F. I., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 11(6), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(72)80001-X
Ericsson, A., & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise. Random House
Hughes, C. J., Costley, J., & Lange, C. (2021). The relationship between attention and extraneous load. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition, 7(2), 61–82.
Kirschner, P. A., & Hendrick, C. (2020). How learning happens: Seminal works in educational psychology and what they mean in practice. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429061523
Krashen, S., & Bland, J. (2014). Compelling comprehensible input, academic language and school libraries. CLELE Journal, 2(2), 1–12.
Krashen, S., & Mason, B. (2020). The optimal input hypothesis: Not all comprehensible input is of equal value. CATESOL Newsletter,5.
Owens, M. T., & Tanner, K. D. (2017). Teaching as brain changing: Exploring connections between neuroscience and innovative teaching. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(2), fe2.
Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (2014). Attention to learning of school subjects. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 3(1), 14–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2014.02.003
Schmidt, R. (2012). Attention, awareness, and individual differences in language learning. Perspectives on individual characteristics and foreign language education, 6, 27. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614510932.27
Suzuki, Y., Nakata, T., & Dekeyser, R. (2019). The desirable difficulty framework as a theoretical foundation for optimizing and researching second language practice. The Modern Language Journal, 103(3), 713-720.
Sweller, J. (2010). Element interactivity and intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Educational psychology review, 22(2), 123–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9128-5
Sweller, J. (2017). Cognitive load theory and teaching English as a second language to adult learners. Contact Magazine, 43(1), 10–14.
Wedlock, J., & Binnie, C. (in press). Selecting and Using Authentic Videos for Intentional Second Language Learning: Nine Considerations. English Australia Journal
Watabe-Uchida, M., Eshel, N., & Uchida, N. (2017). Neural circuitry of reward prediction error. Annual review of neuroscience, 40, 373-394.