From Forgetting to Flourishing: What Every School Needs to Know About Memory, Learning and Study

From Forgetting to Flourishing: What Every School Needs to Know About Memory, Learning and Study

Walk into almost any classroom in Australia and you will see dedicated teachers working tirelessly to help students succeed. Lessons are carefully planned. Curriculum content is delivered with expertise. Students complete tasks, sit assessments and progress through year levels.

Yet there remains a fundamental question that every educator, school leader and parent asks after teaching a lesson:

How much of what students learn today will they still remember over time?

The answer is both fascinating and confronting.

For decades, educational success has often been measured by what students can demonstrate in the short term. However, cognitive science has revealed that genuine learning is not defined by what students can recall at the end of a lesson or even at the end of a unit. True learning occurs when knowledge is retained, connected to existing understanding and can be successfully retrieved and applied in the future.

In other words, learning and remembering are inseparable.

This understanding sits at the heart of what has become known as the Science of Learning—a growing body of research drawn from cognitive psychology, neuroscience and education that is transforming how schools think about teaching, studying and academic achievement.

At this year’s National Education Summit in Melbourne, I will be presenting a session on The Cognitive Science of Memory and Study, exploring how schools can use this research to improve student learning outcomes, strengthen study habits and build a culture where learning is designed to last. One of the most influential discoveries in the study of memory was made more than 130 years ago by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus. Through a series of experiments, Ebbinghaus identified what is now known as the Forgetting Curve. His research demonstrated that unless information is actively revisited and retrieved, memory declines rapidly over time.

While the exact rate of forgetting varies depending on the learner and the material, the overall principle remains remarkably consistent: without deliberate reinforcement, much of what students learn is forgotten. This has significant implications for schools. Consider the amount of content students encounter each day, each week and each year. If learning experiences are not deliberately structured to strengthen memory, students may appear to understand concepts in the moment while retaining far less than teachers expect over the long term. The challenge is not that students are unwilling to learn. The challenge is knowing how to move information from short-term memory into long-term memory.

The Difference Between Performance and Learning

One of the most important insights emerging from cognitive science is the distinction between performance and learning. Performance is what we observe in the short term. A student completes a worksheet accurately. They answer questions correctly during a lesson. They perform well on a test taken immediately after instruction.

Learning, however, is what remains after the lesson has ended. Learning is the durable change in knowledge and understanding that allows students to retrieve and apply information weeks, months or even years later. Students often mistake familiarity for mastery. Reading notes repeatedly, highlighting textbooks and cramming before examinations can feel productive because the material becomes familiar. Yet familiarity is not the same as retention. This is why students frequently experience a frustrating disconnect between the effort they invest in studying and the results they achieve. They are working hard. They are simply not always using methods that align with how memory works.

What Cognitive Science Tells Us About Learning

The good news is that researchers have identified a number of highly effective strategies that significantly improve retention and understanding.

Among the most powerful are: Retrieval Practice

Learning is strengthened when students actively retrieve information from memory rather than simply re-expose themselves to it. Every time a learner recalls information, the memory becomes stronger and more accessible in the future.

This is why low-stakes quizzes, self-testing and regular review activities are so effective.

Spaced Repetition

One of the most robust findings in educational research is that learning improves when revision occurs over extended periods of time.

Rather than studying a topic intensively once, students achieve better long-term retention when learning is revisited at strategically spaced intervals.

Spaced repetition directly combats the effects of the Forgetting Curve by strengthening memories before they are lost.

Interleaving

Rather than studying one concept repeatedly before moving on, students benefit from mixing related topics and skills.

Interleaving requires learners to discriminate between concepts and select appropriate strategies, leading to deeper understanding and stronger retention.

Cognitive Load Management

Working memory is limited.

When students are overwhelmed with information, learning becomes more difficult.

Effective teaching carefully manages cognitive load, ensuring that students can focus their attention on the most important aspects of learning without becoming overloaded.

Metacognition

Students who understand how learning works are better equipped to regulate their own study habits.

Teaching students to monitor their understanding, evaluate their progress and select appropriate learning strategies promotes greater independence and achievement.

Collectively, these principles provide a roadmap for improving both teaching and study.

Why This Matters for School Leaders

While many discussions about the Science of Learning focus on classroom practice, the implications extend far beyond individual lessons.

The schools achieving the greatest success are increasingly recognising that evidence-informed learning requires a whole-school approach.

School leaders play a critical role in creating the conditions for effective learning by:

• Building staff understanding of cognitive science
• Aligning assessment practices with evidence-informed principles
• Supporting consistent approaches to study skills
• Engaging parents in understanding how learning works
• Embedding retrieval and review into curriculum planning
• Developing a shared language of learning across the school

When these elements work together, students encounter consistent messages about how to learn effectively regardless of the classroom they enter. This consistency has the potential to transform outcomes.

The Forgotten Piece of the Puzzle: Student Study Skills

One area where schools have a significant opportunity for improvement is student study habits. Many students receive extensive guidance on what to study but very little instruction on how to study. As a result, they often default to strategies that are familiar, convenient and ineffective. Research consistently demonstrates that students tend to overestimate the effectiveness of passive study techniques while underutilising evidence-based approaches such as retrieval practice and spaced repetition. If we want students to become independent learners, we must explicitly teach them how learning works.

Study skills should not be left to chance.

They should be taught with the same intentionality that we apply to literacy, numeracy and subject-specific content.

Bringing Parents into the Conversation

Parents are among the most influential stakeholders in a child’s education.

Yet many parents were educated before the emergence of modern cognitive science and may be unaware of the research surrounding effective learning.
Schools that engage parents in conversations about memory, study habits and evidence-based learning strategies often find that support at home becomes more focused and effective. Rather than encouraging students simply to “study harder,” parents can help students study smarter. This creates greater alignment between home and school and strengthens the overall learning environment.

From Forgetting to Flourishing

The Science of Learning is not a silver bullet.

It will not eliminate every educational challenge. However, it offers something that educators are increasingly seeking: a strong evidence base for understanding how learning occurs and how teaching can be designed to maximise long-term retention.

The implications are profound.

When teachers understand memory, instruction becomes more effective.

When students understand memory, studying becomes more productive.

When parents understand memory, support at home becomes more meaningful.

And when school leaders create cultures grounded in evidence-informed practice, learning becomes more durable, more efficient and more impactful.

Perhaps most importantly, students begin to see success not as a matter of talent or luck, but as the result of using strategies that align with how the brain learns best.That is the journey from forgetting to flourishing.

At the National Education Summit in Melbourne, I look forward to exploring how the Cognitive Science of Memory and Study can help schools translate research into practice and create learning environments where knowledge is not simply taught, but retained, applied and remembered.

Because in the end, the goal of education is not merely to expose students to knowledge. It is to ensure that learning lasts.