I recently read a book by James M. Lang titled Small Teaching. The book is aimed at university professors who want to improve their teaching by making small changes in their teaching approach that will potentially make a big impact on student engagement, interest, and learning. As I read the book, I thought to myself, "Why am I not doing this at church? Why have a never seen anyone do any of these things on a regular basis in my small groups? I want to improve learner engagement, interest, and retention of biblical material in the church so that they can make more biblically informed decisions which is a critical aspect of life as a disciple of Jesus.

Retrieval from memory is critical to learning.

The first of Lang’s small teaching approaches is so obvious that it is often overlooked. Lang points out that learning occurs best when information is retrieved from memory as opposed to looking something up in a book or on Google and reading the information. Retrieval of information from a “fund of knowledge” makes that information more available in the future. Lang quotes Aristotle saying, “exercise in repeatedly recalling a thing strengthens the memory.” Research supports the idea that recalling information increases one’s ability to recall information in the future. The more often our memory is used, the more it is strengthened.So, how do we used this memory retrieval approach in our small groups and Bible studies at church? Here are three simple approaches to using retrieval to reinforce learning.

Ask participants to summarize the previous session.

If your group is working its way through a book of the Bible, ask group members to describe the key points of the previous passage studied. This summary can take place in just two to three minutes. For instance, the leader might ask, “Last week we started studying the book of Daniel. Who can remind us of the historical context of the book and how that helps us understand the book?” Asking this type of question gives the class leader the opportunity to check for understanding and gives one or more class members the opportunity to retrieve the information and, thereby, reinforcing that information. You might also ask:What were the key points from our lesson last week?We’ve been studying Ephesians for four weeks, what are the main points Paul has made so far?The possibilities are endless, of course, but the key element in retrieval is to give learners the opportunity to recall information from memory, thus increasing the likelihood that the information will be transferred to long-term memory.

 Ask participants to summarize at the end of a meeting.

AS the leader you want to make sure that participants have understood the main points fo the lesson. You can also use this oppportunity to check for and correct any misunderstandings. The temptation that some group members will have is to look back over the lesson guide and hunt for the key points. However, this “scavenger hunt” approach, as Lang calls it, is not effective in retaining information. The struggle of recalling information from memory strengthens that memory in the same way that struggling to lift a weight strengthens the muscle. So, encourage participants to recall the information rather than look it up.

Help partricipants make connections to what they already know.

The goal is to help group members connect what they learned in a particular session to information they already know. For instance, if the group studies Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope (NASB),” a leader might ask the group to identify other passages that discuss hope. This approach may not be appropriate for all groups, such a group of new believers with little to no biblical knowledge; however, the approach might be used to encourage novice biblical scholars/group members to look up biblical passages describing hope.An important part of growing in the “grace and knowledge or our Lord Jesus Christ” is having a “fund of biblical knowledge” from which to draw. These are three simple, straightforward techniques that can be applied in your next small group meeting. Try them out. See how it works. If it doesn’t work, don’t give up. Rather, ask yourself why it didn’t work. Perhaps, you need to frame your questions differently. Or maybe, you are asking something new of your group and it may take them a few weeks to catch on to processing information in a different way. Over time, however, group members will begin to anticipate your questions and begin to prepare before and during your sessions to answer them. Bingo! Learning mission accomplished.