{"id":7949,"date":"2024-12-01T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=7949"},"modified":"2024-11-25T12:19:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T17:19:52","slug":"the-benefits-and-perils-of-thinking-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/the-benefits-and-perils-of-thinking-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits (and Perils) of Thinking Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in 2010, Professor Dan Willingham launched a movement with his now-classic book\u00a0Why Don’t Students Like School?<\/em><\/p>\n

In that book — one of the first to make cognitive science clear and practical for classroom teachers — Willingham wrote this immortal sentence: “Memory is the residue of\u00a0thought<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

In other words: if we want students to learn something — and we do! — we need to make them\u00a0think hard about it<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When I first read that sentence, it sounded\u00a0almost too obvious to write down … until I recalled all the things that we (and I) do that DON’T require students to think about the topic we want them to learn.<\/p>\n

Once we take this insight onboard, all sorts of other ideas start making more sense.<\/p>\n

For instance: why is\u00a0retrieval practice<\/strong> better at creating long-term memories than simple review?<\/p>\n

Well, because students have to\u00a0think harder<\/em> when they retrieve than when they review. And because they think harder, they remember more. (“Memory is the residue of thought.”)<\/p>\n

Simply put: we teachers strive to foster as much focused, hard thought as possible.<\/p>\n

Voila — teaching made easy!<\/p>\n

Not So Fast…<\/h2>\n

This core advice offers such practical insights: what could possibly be the problem?<\/p>\n

Well, imagine this hypothetical:<\/p>\n

If our students believe that fruits and vegetables are\u00a0bad for their health<\/em>, they face two compelling reasons not to eat ’em:<\/p>\n