Bjork & Bjork’s Desirable Difficulties in Action

by Isaac Moore, Jade Pearce

The concept of desirable difficulties is central to many of the evidence-informed strategies - such as spaced practice, retrieval practice and interleaving - that have become so prevalent in recent years, and so are one of the most crucial building blocks of cognitive science. Based on the finding that instruction and tasks most effective for long-term learning often hamper short-term performance, they are also one of the most counter-intuitive.

In their seminal work, Elizabeth and Robert Bjork identified four desirable difficulties - so called because they improve long-term retention and transfer while making learning seem more challenging - including varying the conditions of practice, spacing, interleaving and practice testing.

Isaac Moore and Jade Pearce build on this, explaining each strategy in detail including a summary of the research evidence that supports each difficulty, how it might look in the classroom and how it might be implemented with the greatest impact. They also discuss why students often fail to use these strategies in their independent study (despite their effectiveness) and how teachers and school leaders may encourage students to use them more. Succinct summaries and case studies from a range of practitioners will enable all readers to utilise desirable difficulties in their own classrooms and beyond.

82 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 15, 2024

Reviews

[Wouter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always find the "in action" a bit expensive on what they offer.

This booklet does deliver the message. It follows the articleof Bjork and Bjork and adds some extra information.

Each difficulty is explored and extended upon. It is followed by a summary and a real life example.

It does the job but not a lot more.

[Mr Richard A Dare · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of Desirable Difficulties

This super-clear and readable overview of Desirable Difficulties perfectly balances depth and pace, providing sufficient detail for the ideas to hang together, and for nuance in understanding and application to come through, without ever feeling bogged down in the detail. The authors ensure that practical applications of Desirable Difficulties are ever-present, and in-depth case studies in different settings bring to life how teachers are already successfully employing them.
The book is very well referenced meaning the reader can feel confident the strategies suggested are evidence informed, and follow-up the details of the original research if they wish.
I have recently re-read this and would highly recommend this to any teacher concerned with ensuring students are learning for the long-term and able to transfer their learning to new contexts. Definitely a five-star read.