How the Brain Learns: What Every Teacher Should Know

Understanding a few basic principles of how the brain processes, stores, and retrieves information can transform the way we teach.

Learning Begins with Attention

Before students can learn something, they must first attend to it. The brain is constantly receiving information from the environment, but it cannot process everything at once. Attention helps determine what information enters working memory and receives further processing.

When students are distracted, confused, or trying to process too much information at once, important information may never receive the attention needed for learning. This is why gaining and directing students' attention is an important first step in effective instruction.

Working Memory Has Limits

Working memory is the brain's temporary workspace. It allows us to hold and work with a small amount of information while completing a task—such as following directions, solving a problem, reading a sentence, or learning something new.

But working memory has a limited capacity. When students are asked to process too much unfamiliar information at one time, that capacity can become overloaded. Once this happens, students may lose track of directions, forget information that was just presented, make errors, or simply stop processing the lesson effectively.

This is especially important when students are learning something new. As knowledge and skills become more familiar and automatic, they require fewer working-memory resources, leaving greater capacity for more complex thinking.

Prior Knowledge Matters

New learning does not happen in isolation. The brain makes sense of new information by connecting it to knowledge already stored in long-term memory. The more relevant knowledge students already have about a topic, the easier it is for them to understand and organize new information.

Prior knowledge also helps reduce the demands placed on working memory. When students recognize ideas, vocabulary, or concepts they have encountered before, they do not have to process everything as completely new information. Instead, they can connect new learning to an existing framework of knowledge.

This helps explain why two students can hear the same lesson but understand very different amounts of it. A student with strong background knowledge has more connections available for making sense of the new information, while another student may be trying to build those connections for the first time.

Learning Requires Active Processing

Students do not learn simply because information has been presented to them. Learning requires students to actively think about and make sense of new information. They need opportunities to connect ideas, organize information, explain concepts, answer questions, and consider how new learning relates to what they already know.

This does not mean students must always be physically active or completing an activity. A student can appear busy without doing much meaningful thinking. What matters is cognitive activity—whether the student is mentally engaging with the content and constructing understanding.

When students are asked to explain an idea in their own words, compare two concepts, identify a relationship, or justify an answer, they must do more than simply receive information. They are processing the learning in ways that can help build stronger, more organized knowledge.

Retrieval Strengthens Learning

Learning is strengthened when students are asked to bring previously learned information back to mind. This process is called retrieval. Rather than simply rereading information or hearing it presented again, students attempt to recall what they have learned from memory. Research has consistently shown that practicing retrieval can improve long-term retention.

Each time students successfully retrieve information, they strengthen their ability to access that knowledge again in the future. Retrieval also helps students recognize what they know—and what they may not yet understand well enough. Importantly, retrieval does not have to mean a formal test or graded quiz. It can happen through a question, a brief discussion, an exit prompt, or simply asking students to explain what they remember.

Learning therefore should not end once students appear to understand something during the lesson. Students need repeated opportunities to return to important knowledge and retrieve it over time. Research suggests that repeated retrieval supports longer-term retention and can help students use their knowledge in different contexts.

What This Means for Teachers

Understanding how learning occurs is valuable only when it informs what happens in the classroom. Taken together, these principles point to several instructional practices that can make new learning more manageable, meaningful, and memorable for students.

Gain students’ attention before beginning instruction.
Make sure students are ready to receive important information before giving directions or introducing new content.
Activate relevant prior knowledge.
Briefly review what students already know and explicitly connect it to what they are about to learn.
Teach new information in manageable chunks.
Avoid presenting too much unfamiliar information at once. Teach a small amount, pause, check understanding, and then continue.
Make your thinking visible.
Model processes and use think-alouds so students can hear how an expert approaches a task, solves a problem, or makes sense of new information.
Give students frequent opportunities to think and respond.
Ask questions, have students explain ideas, compare concepts, discuss their thinking, or summarize what they have learned. Remember: the goal is not simply to keep students busy—it is to keep students thinking.
Check for understanding throughout the lesson.
Don't wait until a test or assignment to discover that students did not understand. Check frequently and adjust instruction when necessary.
Provide guided practice before expecting independence.
Support students as they begin applying new learning, gradually reducing assistance as their understanding and confidence increase.
Return to important learning through retrieval.
Regularly ask students to recall previously learned information without immediately looking at notes or textbooks. Brief retrieval opportunities help strengthen access to knowledge over time.
Reduce unnecessary demands on working memory.
Keep directions clear, remove distracting or irrelevant information, preteach unfamiliar vocabulary when appropriate, and avoid requiring students to manage too many new elements simultaneously.
Give specific, timely feedback.
Tell students not simply whether an answer is right or wrong, but what they did successfully and what they need to correct or strengthen.

TRY THIS TOMORROW

You don't have to redesign your entire lesson. Start with three small changes:

Before the lesson: Ask one or two questions that activate what students already know about the topic.

During the lesson: Teach one manageable chunk of new information, then pause and check that students understand before moving on.

Before students leave: Close their books or notes and ask them to retrieve three important things they learned.

Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference

Effective teaching does not require us to work against the way the brain learns. When we gain students' attention, manage the demands on working memory, connect new learning to what they already know, and give them opportunities to retrieve what they have learned, we make learning more accessible—and more likely to last.

Research Behind This Resource

This resource draws on established research in cognitive science and the science of learning, including work on working memory, cognitive load, prior knowledge, retrieval practice, and explicit instruction.

Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of Instruction: Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know. American Educator, 36(1), 12–19, 39.

Education Endowment Foundation. (2021). Cognitive Science Approaches in the Classroom: A Review of the Evidence. Education Endowment Foundation.

Pashler, H., Bain, P. M., Bottge, B. A., Graesser, A., Koedinger, K., McDaniel, M., & Metcalfe, J. (2007). Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning. IES What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide. U.S. Department of Education.

Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. Practice Guides: Evidence-Based Recommendations for Educators.
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