On the first Monday of the Lent Half, the Education Society welcomed Bradley Busch, a charter psychologist, author and director of the mental training skills company InnerDrive. Hosted in the Jafar Hall, Mr Busch engaged the students in a talk titled “The Science of Learning”.
To open the evening, Mr. Busch spoke about the practical application of cognitive research on learning and particularly, memory recall. He drew upon many previous experiments, from multitasking effectiveness, interleaved practice and “elaborative interrogation”- a technique which requires the student to question “why” a certain fact is true, and take an active role in the learning process. He argued that the practice of highlighting important sentences and re-reading revision materials would actually be less beneficial than mock-testing and reading class notes aloud. His belief in an active role of both student and teacher was also noticeable in the nature of his speech. Mr. Busch later took the audience through several of his own experiments, challenging them to a series of letter recollection exercises. Mr. Busch’s interactive speech gave both teachers and students an invaluable glance into the science-based world of educational psychology, as well as practical tips to engage actively with learning both in and outside of their academic pursuits.
You can listen to Mr. Busch's talk here.
Vernon Li
