(Jade Pearce & Isaac Moore, John Catt, £12)

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There’s a fine line between making something too easy for students, and so hard that they just can’t get it.

The original work on which this volume is based has perhaps been honoured more in the breach than in the observance. What Pearce and Moore have therefore done is summarise recent research concerning four main desirable difficulties, while providing practical guidance to inform teachers’ practice and students’ independent study.

There are plenty of examples of how the theory can be applied – and across a range of subjects, at that – but while the authors’ concision is to be admired, there’s a sense that not everything is quite as fully explained as it could be. That said, there’s an extensive list of references for anyone wishing to go deeper, and overall, it comes across as a very useful work.

Highly recommended.

This book was first reviewed in Teach Secondary magazine.