Blog
What the research says about learning and testing, what official standards ask of teachers, and how we build The Learning Library around both.
Featured · How we buildA map of what to learn nextFinishing a textbook raises an obvious question: what now? Getting stuck in one raises a harder one: is this the wrong book, or am I missing something it assumes?The Learning Library team · 8 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
Posts
Learning scienceMastery, one chapter at a timeMost courses move on when the calendar says so. Mastery learning moves on when the student is ready: learn a unit, check it, fix what's shaky, and only then go on.7 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
Learning scienceWhy we don't ask students their learning styleAsk a room of teachers whether students learn best in their preferred style (visual, auditory or hands-on) and most will say yes.6 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
Learning scienceSeven types of study methods, and what the evidence says about eachThere are dozens of named study techniques, and they aren't equally good. The big research reviews sort them into a handful of kinds.6 Oct 2026 · 7 min read
Learning scienceTesting yourself beats rereading, even though it feels worseRereading feels productive. The words look familiar, the page flows, and it seems like it's going in.29 Sept 2026 · 5 min read
Learning scienceHow far apart should reviews be?Everyone knows cramming is a bad idea. The harder question is how far apart reviews should be.24 Sept 2026 · 5 min read
Further reading
Free, practical guides from researchers and education agencies.
- Which study strategies make the grade?Association for Psychological Science
- Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student LearningUS Institute of Education Sciences practice guide
- Metacognition and self-regulationEducation Endowment Foundation toolkit
- Six strategies for effective learningThe Learning Scientists
- Retrieval practice strategiesRetrieval Practice, Pooja Agarwal
- The myth of the fast learnerCarnegie Mellon University
- Mastery learningEducation Endowment Foundation toolkit