Learning vs performance: the difference and what it means for your teaching
Written By: Author(s): Tom Sherrington and Sara Stafford
1 min read
Short-term performance can make it seem as though learning has happened.
Learning is about committing knowledge to long-term memory, not immediate performance.
What does it mean?
There are different technical ideas about what ‘learning’ means, but we would probably all agree that even if a student can give a good answer or demonstrate a skill today, that doesn’t mean they have learned it. Without strategies to embed knowledge in our long-term memory, we can easily forget things.
Short-term performance can give the illusion that learning has happened but, within any group of students, the degree to which the material will be remembered long-term can vary significantly. This will depend on what they already knew and the nature of the learning task, in particular the success of the task in connecting new and prior learning.
What are the implications for teachers?
Be very clear that you will only know about the extent of actual learning once your students have had time to forget.
You will also need to consciously guard against the illu
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This article was published in August 2018 and reflects the terminology and understanding of research and evidence in use at the time. Some terms and conclusions may no longer align with current standards. We encourage readers to approach the content with an understanding of this context.
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