Making Learning Last

This chapter confronts one of the biggest challenges facing college teachers and their students—making learning last beyond the immediate present. Learning is an acquired skill; it is not something people are naturally good at, especially the kinds of learning that school requires. Students thus have to learn how to learn. And as their learning becomes more complex, they need help in managing the acquisition of knowledge and skills. This chapter considers how to help students become meta-cognitive—more conscious of their learning and better able to learn how to learn. The chapter thus takes up some key questions about long-lasting learning. It explains why some study strategies work and others do not. It also identifies the conditions necessary for successful learning, along with principles and practices that guide and sustain effective, long-lasting learning. Finally, the chapter considers how to make learning itself an object of inquiry, exploring it from the perspective of strategic practice.