Invited Speaker: Dr. Joe Kim. Associate Professor in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, and Director of the Education & Cognition Lab at McMaster University.

Motivating durable learning: Focused attention and instructional design

Cognitive scientists have been studying processes such as attention, memory and learning for more than 150 years. This rich resource of knowledge has been only recently applied to developing evidence-based interventions in education. A key focus of this research has been to promote learning that is durable – extending beyond short-term testing into long-term retention of information that remains with the student after the final exam. In this presentation, I will discuss three key factors that instructors can implement to promote durable learning:

1. Learning relies on sustained attention. Instructors can implement methods to reduce mind wandering and students can engage in practices to promote effortful and focused attention.
    
2. Design of teaching materials directly guides learning. Slide design that reduces cognitive load can promote student learning.
    
3. Study habits such as retrieval practice strengthen long-term retention. Instructors can implement effective assessment design and students can learn to take an active role in learning and testing.

A key message in applying cognitive principles to instructional design is that both instructors and students have important parts to play in developing habits that promote durable learning.