Do Modern Learning Techniques Really Work?

This episode examines whether modern teaching and learning strategies actually improve learning and retention. It distinguishes between engagement and learning, grades and mastery, and short-term performance and long-term retention. Stronger evidence supports retrieval practice, spaced repetition, feedback, interleaving, and well-designed active learning. More mixed evidence surrounds flipped classrooms, problem-based learning, and collaborative learning. Weak evidence surrounds learning styles and unguided discovery learning. The episode also raises the key skeptical question: if students are learning better, where is the comparative evidence in retained knowledge, problem-solving ability, transfer, and long-term outcomes?