An Educationally Relevant Investigation of Spaced Practice
Location
CSU Ballroom
Start Date
10-4-2018 2:00 PM
End Date
10-4-2018 3:30 PM
Student's Major
Psychology
Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mentor's Name
Shawna Petersen-Brown
Mentor's Department
Psychology
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Second Mentor's Name
Carlos Panahon
Second Mentor's Department
Psychology
Second Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Third Mentor's Name
Ashlee Lundberg
Third Mentor's Deparment
Psychology
Third Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
In order to ensure students benefit from instruction, it is important to use methods that aid retention of information. Spaced practice, or the distribution of practice over time, is one method shown to aid retention because it serves as a reminder of previously learned information. Spaced practice is often cited as an effective instructional practice. However, most research on the spacing effect is not conducted in an educationally relevant way. For example, most research in this area includes adult participants, is conducted in laboratory settings, and uses very brief retention intervals (typically less than 1 day). The purpose of this research is to contribute to the small body of educationally relevant research on the spacing effect by including school-aged participants, conducting research in a school-based setting, teaching meaningful grade-level content, and using lengthier retention intervals (1 week). Participants will include students in third through fifth grade who will be taught eight grade level math vocabulary words using a flashcard procedure known as incremental rehearsal (IR). Students will participate in a series of three practice sessions corresponding to their randomly assigned condition (spaced, expanded, or massed practice). They will also participate in a retention check 7 days after the final practice session. During these practice sessions, error correction will be provided as needed to help students learn words and word definitions. At each practice session and the final retention check the number of words and definitions retained by each student will be recorded and compared across the three conditions.
An Educationally Relevant Investigation of Spaced Practice
CSU Ballroom
In order to ensure students benefit from instruction, it is important to use methods that aid retention of information. Spaced practice, or the distribution of practice over time, is one method shown to aid retention because it serves as a reminder of previously learned information. Spaced practice is often cited as an effective instructional practice. However, most research on the spacing effect is not conducted in an educationally relevant way. For example, most research in this area includes adult participants, is conducted in laboratory settings, and uses very brief retention intervals (typically less than 1 day). The purpose of this research is to contribute to the small body of educationally relevant research on the spacing effect by including school-aged participants, conducting research in a school-based setting, teaching meaningful grade-level content, and using lengthier retention intervals (1 week). Participants will include students in third through fifth grade who will be taught eight grade level math vocabulary words using a flashcard procedure known as incremental rehearsal (IR). Students will participate in a series of three practice sessions corresponding to their randomly assigned condition (spaced, expanded, or massed practice). They will also participate in a retention check 7 days after the final practice session. During these practice sessions, error correction will be provided as needed to help students learn words and word definitions. At each practice session and the final retention check the number of words and definitions retained by each student will be recorded and compared across the three conditions.
Recommended Citation
Hjelmeland, Brittney. "An Educationally Relevant Investigation of Spaced Practice." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 10, 2018.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2018/poster-session-B/3
