Stockholm university
Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching

Teaching with desirable difficulties─reduce how much your students forget

Workshop

Date: Monday 4 May 2026

Time: 09.00 – 12.00

Location: Department of education, Frescativägen 54. Room 2503

Do you want your students to remember more of what you teach them, making them better prepared for the next seminar and the future? In this workshop, we work with desirable difficulties, principles that make learning feel more effortful in the moment but lead to enhanced long-term learning.

The workshop is designed for university teachers at Stocholm University

 

About the Workshop

In this workshop, we go hands-on with three teaching strategies: retrieval practice (recall-based learning), spaced practice (distributed learning), and varied practice. You’ll get a theoretical background, an overview of the evidence, and guidance on implementing the strategies in your teaching.

In the workshop:

  • Why do we forget? Short introduction to memory research and “desirable difficulties”.
  • Retrieval practice: How frequent memory tests can protect against forgetting
  • Spaced practice: How to build spaced practice into a course
  • Varied practice: How switching formats, contexts, and task types promotes learning
  • Application to your teaching: Concrete examples of how you can use these strategies in your teaching

The workshop is led by Andreas Jemstedt from the Department of Education. 

 

Preparation

Think about a course/module you’d like to develop before the workshop.

Bring at least one presentation or other type of material that you can work with during the workshop.

Read Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. In Psychology and the Real World: Essays Illustrating Fundamental Contributions to Society (pp. 56–64). Worth Publishers.

 

Registration

The workshop is aimed at all teaching staff and educational managers, regardless of subject affiliation, at Stockholm University. Participation is free of charge. Book your place in good time, as places are limited. First come, first served is applied.

Register for the workshop in our courseportal

Organizer is the Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching (CeUL). CeUL offers workshops on a variety of teaching and learning topics with the aim to support and stimulate engaging and high-quality teaching at all levels at Stockholm University.

The workshop offers an opportunity to explore and develop academic teaching skills that falls under category 6. Reflective practitioner. The workshop offers tools and ideas for systematic development of your teachership

Learn more about The 8 dimensions Academic teachership

Last updated: November 7, 2025

Source: entre for the Advancement of University Teaching

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