Supporting Durable and Supporting Durable and Efficient Student LearningEfficient Student Learning

Katherine RawsonKatherine RawsonKent State UniversityKent State University

Research supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Research supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grantsthrough Grants #R305H050038 and #R305A080316 to#R305H050038 and #R305A080316 to Kent State University.  Kent State University. 

The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent views The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Retrieval-Monitoring-Retrieval-Monitoring-Feedback (RMF) MethodFeedback (RMF) Method

Why key term definitions?Why key term definitions?Why is durability important?Why is durability important?

Why is efficiency important?Why is efficiency important?Why retrieval practice?Why retrieval practice?

What We Know…What We Know…Retrieval practice + restudy is goodRetrieval practice + restudy is good

More is betterMore is betterSpaced practice is bestSpaced practice is best

What We Don’t Know…What We Don’t Know…Optimal schedule for Optimal schedule for durability and efficiency ?durability and efficiency ?

What is the What is the availability heuristicavailability heuristic??Judging the likelihood of an event based on Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easy it is to think of real or imagined how easy it is to think of real or imagined examples.examples.

Day 1: Initial studyDay 1: Initial study Retrieval practice (with restudy)Retrieval practice (with restudy) until until 11,, 22,, 33,, or or 44 correct recallscorrect recalls

Experiment 1Experiment 1

Short text with 8 key term Short text with 8 key term definitionsdefinitions

Day 3: Final recall testDay 3: Final recall test

130 students in Introductory 130 students in Introductory PsychologyPsychology

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Experiment 2Experiment 2335 students, 16 key term 335 students, 16 key term definitionsdefinitionsInitial learning: Initial learning: 11 or or 33 correct recalls correct recalls

Relearning sessions: Relearning sessions: 11, , 22, , 33, , 44,, oror 55 Criterion Test #1: Criterion Test #1: one monthone month after after practicepracticeCriterion Test #2: Criterion Test #2: four monthsfour months after after practice practice

2.6 > 2.1 2.3 > 2.0 1.9 ~ 1.7 1.7 ~ 1.6 1.5 ~ 1.50102030405060708090

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180 students, 8 key term 180 students, 8 key term definitionsdefinitionsDay 1: Day 1: Retrieval practice until ~2 correct Retrieval practice until ~2 correct recalls recalls LAG:LAG: zerozero, , oneone, , threethree,, or or sevenseven other items between trialsother items between trialsDay 3: relearning sessionDay 3: relearning session

Day 10: final cued recall testDay 10: final cued recall test

Experiment 3Experiment 3

Day 8: relearning sessionDay 8: relearning session

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What We Knew…What We Knew…More is betterMore is betterSpaced practice is bestSpaced practice is best

What We Now Know…What We Now Know…

Spaced practice not always Spaced practice not always best?best?

Conclusions: Conclusions: Optimizing Durability and Optimizing Durability and

EfficiencyEfficiency

More is increasingly less betterMore is increasingly less better

Thanks to our tireless team of research assistants who collected data from 645 participants and who hand-scored more than 80,000 recall responses for just these three experiments alone!

Mike Appleman John KozlikMelissa Bishop Korin LeeTina Burke Caitlin MetelkoSean Burton Rochelle O’NeilDan Molnar Jill PetersonNicole Gonzalez Danielle RobertoPhil Grimaldi Melissa RoderickTonya Hardway Sara SmithAlison Kane Katie Wissman

What is the self-serving bias?

One Month “Booster Shot”One Month “Booster Shot”

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1-49% 50-69% 70-79% 80-89% 90-100%

Actual Score on Three "Correct" Practice Trials

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Percent of Percent of commission errorscommission errors judged to be worth no credit, judged to be worth no credit, partial credit, or full creditpartial credit, or full credit

NoneNone Part Part FullFullno definitionno definition 17 17 58 58

25 25definitiondefinition 48 48 38 38 1414idea unitsidea units 78 78 20 20 22