How Learning Works in the Greek and Latin Classroom

This article presents seven neuroscience-based principles of how people learn, derived from Susan Ambrose et al.’s How Learning Works, and offers practical advice and tools for applying these principles to the teaching of Greek and Latin. To teach as best as we can, we should look to how our students learn and to how we can better promote and support their learning. The seven concepts are: [1] novices and experts organize knowledge differently; [2] students’ prior knowledge affects present class performance; [3] learning depends on motivation, a threefold phenomenon; [4] learning is best supported by targeted practice and timely feedback; [5] acquisition of complex skills depends on automaticity in and integration of basic tasks; [6] reflection and metacognition are essential for successful learning; and [7] course environment and student identity development have profound effects on learning effectiveness. Each principle is treated separately with a subsection on relevant language-instruction techniques. The conclusion ties together the ramifications of these principles for pedagogy and for course design. The Appendix presents sample documents.