Evidence Based Education’s Model for Great Teaching (page 2)highlights the importance of students’ thinking. The model, derived from the best available research evidence on effective teaching, dedicates an entire dimension to this. Dimension 4 of the model argues that great teachers “activate hard thinking” in their students (Coe et al., 2020). The importance of thinking should come as no surprise to any educator (or indeed anyone who has ever been to school!); it is, of course, at the core of learning.

This eBook discusses the very basics of these concepts. The science of learning is an extensive field that draws from research in disciplines like psychology, education, neuroscience, and even sociology and computer science.

This eBook will not extend into every detail of learning and cognition; instead, it does offer an introduction that every teacher can use as a starting point. We know that learning is absolutely crucial to education—therefore teachers can use their understanding of how it happens to better consider their classroom practice. This eBook concludes with some practical steps and considerations for teachers to implement on a daily basis.