Sticky Thinking Thursdays: The Science of Learning & the ACT
Smarter ACT prep that actually sticks.
ACT prep is everywhere — but effective ACT prep is not.
Too often, students are told to:
Take more practice tests
Study longer
Work harder
And when scores don’t improve, the assumption is usually that the student simply needs more of the same.
Sticky Thinking Thursdays exists to challenge that idea.
This series is built on a simple truth backed by decades of research:
Learning isn’t about how much you practice — it’s about how well that practice helps information stick.
What Is “Sticky Thinking”?
Sticky thinking is learning that lasts. It’s the kind of understanding that:
Can be retrieved under time pressure
Transfers to new questions
Shows up on test day — not just during practice
Sticky thinking doesn’t come from cramming, memorizing tricks, or grinding through endless tests. It comes from aligning practice with how the brain actually learns. That’s where the Science of Learning comes in.
The Science of Learning is a body of research from cognitive psychology that explains how people:
Encode information
Store it over time
Retrieve it when it matters
A foundational idea from this research, popularized in books like Make It Stick, is that:
Learning feels hardest when it’s working best.
Strategies that feel easy (re-reading, highlighting, passive review) often don’t lead to long-term retention, but strategies that feel more difficult lead to stronger, more durable learning. Difficulty is desirable.
That distinction matters enormously for a high-stakes, timed test like the ACT.
Why Does This Matter for ACT Prep?
The ACT doesn’t test how recently a student did a practice exam, how many they took, or how familiar they are with the questions that will be asked. What the ACT will favor is whether students can retrieve information quickly, apply skills flexibly, and make decisions under pressure.
Sticky Thinking Thursdays focuses on better practice, not more practice, using research-backed strategies such as:
Retrieval practice
Spaced learning
Interleaving skills
Productive struggle
Feedback that drives improvement
These aren’t gimmicks. They’re research-backed principles used to improve learning in classrooms and hone long-term skill development.
Join us if…
You’re a student who feels like you are working hard but not seeing many results.
You’re a parent who wants ACT prep to be efficient, effective, and evidence-based, but not simply another thing to add to your student’s plate.
You’re an educator who cares about instruction that transfers beyond a single test.
If ACT prep hasn’t worked before, this series not only explains why, but tells you what you can to do fix it!
Each Sticky Thinking Thursday post breaks down:
One core Science of Learning principle
How it applies specifically to the ACT
What students should actually be doing differently
Ultimately, higher ACT scores don’t come from grinding harder — they come from learning smarter.
Sticky Thinking Thursdays is about helping learning stick — so effort turns into results.
