Why Do Students Forget What They Learn? How Deep Learning Beats Memorise-and-Forget Teaching-Students do not forget because they cannot learn. We explain why forgetting happens, what research shows and how teachers build deep learning that lasts.-In this article we explain why students forget, what research says about memory, and how teachers and school leaders can build learning that lasts. We keep one question in view from start to finish: “Have my students understood the idea deeply enough to use it?”Teach so that forgetting is hard
Students do not forget because they are incapable of learning. They forget when learning is a single read, a night of memorising and an answer written once.
We can make forgetting harder. We can help students connect new ideas to old ones, explain in their own words, retrieve, apply, make mistakes, discuss, question, teach and return. None of these needs’ special technology. Each needs a small change in how we plan a lesson and what we ask students to do.
We can also change what we measure. A school that counts coverage will get coverage. A school that looks at what students still understand, and can use, will get learning.
There is a significant difference between completing a syllabus and creating learning. Every teacher knows the difference. Every school should measure it.

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