Pedagogy & Implementation

Podcast: Forging Durable Knowledge

Re-engineering the First 5 Minutes of Your Class. In this episode, we explore the cognitive science behind retrieval practice. Students forget what we teach—but retrieval practice fixes that. By turning “Do Nows” into low-stakes recall moments, you transform the first five minutes into a memory workout.

Guide: The Do Now Generator

A one-page guide featuring 5 research-backed models for retrieval practice that you can implement tomorrow. This practical tool helps you embed spaced practice and fight the forgetting curve with minimal prep time.

Download the Guide

Research: Retrieval Practice Synthesis

This professional roundup synthesises key research on retrieval practice and its most effective classroom application: the 'Do Now' routine. Move beyond passive review and discover why the effortful act of 'pulling information out' leads to durable, long-term learning.

Explore the cognitive science behind the 'testing effect,' desirable difficulty, and how these principles can be embedded into the first five minutes of every lesson to combat the forgetting curve and build a culture of lasting knowledge.

Read the Research

Curated Resources for Continued Professional Development

For educators wishing to deepen their understanding and expand their practice, the following researchers, organizations, and texts are highly recommended.

Key Researchers & Organizations

Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D., and RetrievalPractice.org: A cognitive scientist and former K-12 teacher, Dr. Agarwal's work is focused on translating the science of learning for educators. Her website is a comprehensive hub of free resources, research summaries, and practical guides on retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and metacognition.

The Learning Scientists: A team of cognitive psychological scientists dedicated to making scientific research on learning accessible to students and teachers. Their website, blog, and podcast offer a wealth of information, downloadable materials, and practical advice on effective learning strategies.

Doug Lemov and Teach Like a Champion: Lemov's work provides highly practical and detailed techniques for classroom execution. His framework for the "Do Now" is a foundational resource for building effective classroom routines.

Influential Books

Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning by Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D., & Patrice M. Bain, Ed.S.: This book is an essential guide for educators, co-authored by a cognitive scientist and a veteran K-12 teacher. It is filled with evidence-based strategies that are practical and require little to no extra preparation or grading.

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, & Mark A. McDaniel: A seminal work that synthesizes decades of cognitive science research into clear principles for effective learning. It provides a deep and accessible explanation of why strategies like retrieval practice, spacing, and interleaving are so powerful.

Teach Like a Champion 2.0 by Doug Lemov: This book offers a detailed taxonomy of concrete, actionable techniques for creating a high-achieving classroom culture, including an in-depth exploration of the "Do Now" routine.

Key Research Papers (for deeper exploration)

Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Psychological Science, 17(3), 249-255. This is the foundational paper that revitalized interest in the "testing effect" and demonstrated its powerful impact on long-term learning.

Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Science, 331(6018), 772-775. A landmark study that directly compared retrieval practice to the popular and elaborate strategy of concept mapping, demonstrating the superior learning gains produced by retrieval.