Most instructors want to improve their teaching, but the idea of redesigning an entire course can feel overwhelming. What if real improvement could come from a few small, intentional adjustments? That’s the premise of James Lang’s Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning. Lang shows how modest tweaks, grounded in research, can meaningfully enhance learning. And he shows you exactly how to do it.
Lang’s book has become so influential that he is credited with popularizing the term “small teaching” in education. So don’t be surprised if you hear more about “small teaching” at your next professional development session. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to integrate research-supported teaching strategies into their course but doesn’t have the time or energy for a major redesign. That’s almost everyone, right?
One of the main reasons I recommend Small Teaching is that it is remarkably practical. The book is organized into concise chapters that each focus on a specific teaching strategy. Lang provides concrete examples, which can be easily adapted and added to a lesson. Not only is the book grounded in new research from cognitive theory, but Lang connects the theory to real learning experiences. When we understand how an activity supports learning, we are more motivated to use it.
A great example of how this works comes from the chapter on “Predicting.” James draws on research that shows “our brains are prediction-making machines and our learning stems most fundamentally from the cycle of making predictions and then adjusting our thinking in light of the accuracy of those predictions” (Lang, 25). So instead of jumping right into the content of a lecture, Lang suggests instructors begin by asking students to make a prediction. It may seem counterintuitive to ask students to solve a problem on their own before you have taught the underlying concept, but research shows that asking students to use their existing knowledge and skills to struggle with material before it is taught increases engagement and deeper learning. Predictive activities activate prior knowledge and reveal gaps in understanding. Wrong predictions can be especially powerful because they highlight gaps and spark curiosity. When a student is wrong, they ask themselves, “What am I missing and where did I go wrong?”
To illustrate how the strategy of prediction can be applied to a real classroom, consider the following scenario from an animal behavior course in biology. Before introducing the cues that trigger bird migration, a teacher might ask the students to predict how sandhill cranes decide when to begin migration. First, students need to activate prior knowledge about everything they have learned about animal behavior. They can spend a bit of time thinking about it and maybe decide migration is based solely on temperature. Then, they learn that actually, the major influence is on day length. If a student’s prediction was wrong, their brain engages to flag it as something important–and they are more likely to remember it. This type of predictive activity engages students' curiosity and cements learning, even more so when they are wrong.
Small Teaching is an excellent resource for instructors who want to refresh a course but don't have a lot of time. Lang shows how small, well-chosen adjustments can spark big improvements in student learning and engagement.
Written by Teri Horton
References/Additional Resources:
Lang, J. M. (2021). Small teaching : everyday lessons from the science of learning (Second Edition). Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Brand.
