Learning how to learn

Psychological research into human cognition — the study of how we perceive the world and how we learn — has made remarkable gains in recent years. Not surprisingly, teachers are beginning to apply some of these findings to their teaching. Virtually all of this year's contributors to Exemplary Practices have taken advantage of some of these new ideas.

Here, four teachers — Jane Skinner, Johanne Patry, Edward James and Kanwal Neel — discuss how they have adapted ideas developed by psychologists to help shape the material they present to their students and to help students learn how to learn. The teachers point out that these techniques are, in many ways, familiar and that many educators already use them instinctively. But, by taking advantage of the latest research to further develop teaching techniques, teachers can make the payoff for students greater.

• Boxes within boxes

  Jane Skinner
  Ottewell School
  Edmonton, Alberta

• Making connections to speed up learning

  Johanne Patry
  École secondaire Vaudreuil
  Vaudreuil, Quebec

• Wanted: female scientists, mathematicians and inventors

  Edward James
  Eastwood Collegiate Institute
  Kitchener, Ontario

• What students already know

  Kanwal Neel
  Steveston Secondary School
  Richmond, British Columbia