We are adding “Desirable Difficulty” to IHC lessons and blog posts to increase retention.

Psychologists Elizabeth and Robert Bjork – scientists that research human memory – coined the term “Desirable difficulty” to note the value of retrieval effort, struggle or exertion in better learning; i.e., if it’s too easy to retrieve the information, long-term learning drops, whereas if a person works harder at remembering, long-term learning “sticks” more.

The concept for us involves proper use of flash cards. After reading the post linked below, please practice retrieving and retaining the information by this method:

Before turning each flashcard over, and without rereading the post, try to remember the substance of the answer from the article. Active retrieval from memory and putting it in your own words does a better job of teaching yourself than just rereading the article or the card answer. Also mixing up the order in which you read/remember/turn flashcards aids learning.

Will you accept the challenge? Here is a post – Integrating Ideas from Building Biology – you can practice on in two steps:

1)  Read the post
2) Follow the flashcard directions

There is also an audio and PDF version of the post to aid learning.

Thank you for your support.