Speak your mind: A multi-method investigation of production benefits in learning

Though “teaching-by-telling” has been the dominant mode of student instruction since the founding of European universities, more active “learning-by-doing” approaches are now widely discussed among educators in the UK and abroad and have been endorsed by leading policy bodies as well-suited for the educational challenges of the 21st century (Education Endowment Foundation, 2023). A key aspect of learning-by-doing methods is an emphasis on learners’ active production, or verbalisation, of learning content, as opposed to passive listening or reading. Production significantly enhances learning outcomes: articulating material verbally, rather than engaging with it silently, boosts comprehension and retention across diverse learning domains, from mathematics to foreign language learning, by as much as 30% more than traditional methods. Despite its effectiveness, there is a notable gap in understanding the underlying mechanisms that make production-based learning so impactful. This gap in knowledge is a critical barrier to optimising and effectively implementing these strategies in educational settings. The current proposal seeks to bridge this gap by elucidating why verbal production is an effective learning strategy. The project will rigorously test predictions of two competing theories of learning-by-doing: multimodal theories, which propose that production enhances learning because it engages multiple sensory and motor modalities in the learning process, and attentional theories, which posit that the act of production induces a heightened attentional focus that improves learning outcomes. The implications of these theories extend beyond theoretical discourse and have significant practical applications in educational settings. Multimodal theories advocate for interventions that incorporate various sensory and motor modalities (such as seeing, speaking, and doing) in learning, while attentional theories recommend the use of production to focus students’ attention on crucial details that boost learning outcomes. Employing a novel, multi-method approach, this project combines transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), electroencephalography (EEG), and pupillometry techniques to address the what, when, and how of production-based learning: (i) what mechanisms—multimodal or attentional or both—causally impact the effectiveness of production as a learning strategy, (ii) when multimodal and attentional contributions impact production benefits, and (iii) how learner engagement is linked to multimodal and attentional aspects of production. Production benefits will be examined in the context of foreign language vocabulary learning, with relevance to England’s National Curriculum foreign language mandate and Scotland’s 1+2 language education policy. The project is also aligned with broader societal concerns, considering language learning’s ties to lifelong cognitive benefits and potential in delaying age-related cognitive decline, resonating with ESRC priorities in population and society, improving health and wellbeing, and putting data at the heart of decision-making (ESRC Strategic Delivery Plan, 2022-25). A deeper understanding of the mechanisms that drive production-based learning’s success will help bridge the gap between multimodal and attentional models of learning-by-doing and trigger advancements in related fields like education and neuroscience. The project’s findings stand to benefit diverse stakeholders, including educators, students, policymakers, employers, and the general public. Understanding why production learning is effective will be key to maximising its benefits in educational interventions. More efficient learning potentially translates into expedited training and education, heightened productivity, and reduced costs, yielding individual and societal benefits. Findings will potentially be integrated into digital language learning platforms such as Duolingo—platforms that have millions of users worldwide, allowing even a small improvement in learning efficiency to translate to significant advancements on a global scale.