The Australian Education Research Organisation describes 4 key ideas that help us to understand how students learn. These ideas help to inform how we organise the learning day for students.
Learning is a change in long-term memory
When students are learning they process information in their working memory, a mental workspace where they actively engage with the facts, concepts and procedures. This workspace is limited and relies on long-term memory where knowledge is stored for future use. Teachers carefully sequence learning in small chunks to help students process their learning into their long-term memory. They help students to link their new learning with existing knowledge to help build networks in their long-term memory.
