RESUMO
Retrieval practice typically benefits learning in children, although little is known about the benefits of retrieval practice for learning spelling. We investigated this issue in three experiments with fifth-grade children from a low-income area of Brazil. In the experiments, children first read a list of words (study), and after a short interval wrote down the studied words after hearing and rereading them (copy) or after only hearing them (retrieval practice). After an interval of 4 days, spelling performance was greater for words from the retrieval practice condition than for words from the copy condition, but only when immediate corrective feedback was provided (Experiment 3). The current findings, therefore, suggest that retrieval practice followed by corrective feedback is an effective strategy to improve spelling performance of fifth-grade children.
Assuntos
Ácido Dioctil Sulfossuccínico , Audição , Humanos , Criança , Brasil , Idioma , Aprendizagem , FenolftaleínaRESUMO
Retrieval practice, the act of recalling previously studied information, yields greater memory retention than repeated studying (retrieval practice effect). Retrieval practice can also protect memories against the negative effects of stress at retrieval in free recall tests. In cued-recall tests, however, retrieval practice may not provide complete protection against stress-related memory impairments. Here we ask whether these conflicting results may be explained by the relative difficulty of the study materials. Participants (59 men) first studied 40 Swahili-Portuguese word pairs. Half of the pairs were then repeatedly studied while the other half were repeatedly recalled. In each condition, half of the pairs were easy to remember (high in memorability) while the other half were more difficult to remember (low in memorability). Participants returned 1 week later for a final cued-recall test. Half of the participants underwent a stress-induction protocol (modified Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test) 25 min before the final test for all 40-word pairs; the other half underwent a control condition. Salivary cortisol and questionnaire responses were used to assess the efficacy of stress induction. Participants recalled more word pairs learned via retrieval practice than via repeated study, replicating previous research. More importantly, the results revealed an interaction such that stress decreased recall for easy items, but increased recall for difficult items that had been successfully retrieved during encoding (conditional analysis). The results suggest that the impact of stress on cued recall depends both on the learning strategy and on the intrinsic difficulty of the to-be-learned materials.
Assuntos
Sinais (Psicologia) , Rememoração Mental , Masculino , Humanos , Rememoração Mental/fisiologia , Aprendizagem/fisiologia , Memória , Transtornos da MemóriaRESUMO
Retrieving information from memory, compared with different control conditions, improves subsequent retention of that information. Given the ubiquitous demonstration of this retrieval practice effect, researchers have asked whether such benefit is moderated by individual-difference variables. An implicit assumption in individual-difference research is that the retrieval practice effect at the participant level is reliable across participants. In this study, we tested this reliability assumption. In two sessions, 54 participants studied foreign-native word pairs, repeatedly restudied half of the word pairs, repeatedly retrieval-practised the other half, and, finally, took a final test for all pairs. Different word pairs were used in each session. We replicated the retrieval practice effect at the group level in Sessions 1 (d = 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.27, 0.80]) and 2 (d = 0.79 [0.53, 1.05]). In addition, we found that the retrieval practice effect at the participant level was reliable over a 1-week span both for absolute agreement, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = .33 [.12, .51], and for consistency estimates, ICC = .35 [.14, .53]. The result bridges a gap in the literature of individual differences on the retrieval practice effect. We suggest that future studies identify whether, and under which experimental conditions, the retrieval practice effect at the participant level may show even greater reliability estimates than the ones reported here. The finding may also pave the way for studies assessing whether the magnitude of the retrieval practice effect is domain-general or paradigm-specific.
Assuntos
Rememoração Mental , Humanos , Reprodutibilidade dos TestesRESUMO
Multiple studies have shown that testing contributes to learning at all educational levels. In this observational classroom study, we report the use of a learning tool developed for a Genetics and Molecular Biology course at the college level. An interactive set of practice exams that included 136 multiple choice questions (MCQ) or matching queries was developed in the open-source Moodle platform. All MCQ questions contained four answer choices and configured for immediate feedback upon answering. Feedback consisted of providing the right answer and a short explanation of the learning objective examined. The interactive material was tested and refined for several semesters. Usefulness of this tool was assessed in two distinct settings: (1) during a face-to-face semester (Fall 2019) by comparing the grades in a final departmental exam between students who used the tool and those who did not, and (2) during an online semester (Fall 2020) by analyzing the grades in the first and last attempts on study sessions and students' performance in monthly exams. We found that when solving practice tests, students obtained a significantly higher scores in the last attempt compared with their first attempt, and that students who used the material performed better than those who did not. In all cases, answering the practice exams was optional, but students made full use of them preferentially during the online semester. This classroom research exemplifies the documented effectiveness of practice tests enhanced with feedback in biological sciences education through an open-source learning platform.
Assuntos
Aprendizagem , Estudantes , Humanos , Retroalimentação , Avaliação Educacional , Biologia MolecularRESUMO
In cognitive load theory (CLT), learning is the development of cognitive schemas in a long-term memory with no known limits and can happen only if our limited working memory can process new information presented and the amount of information that does not contribute to learning is low. According to this theory, learning is optimal when instructional support is decreased going from worked examples via completion problem to autonomous problem solving and learners do not benefit from practicing retrieval with complex content. However, studies on productive failure and retrieval practice have provided clear evidence against these two guidelines. In this article, issues with CLT and research inspired by this theory, which remain largely ignored among cognitive load theorists but have likely contributed to these contradictory findings, are discussed. This article concludes that these issues should make us question the usefulness of CLT in health science education, medical education and other complex domains, and presents recommendations for both educational practice and future research on the matter.
Na teoria da carga cognitiva (CLT), a aprendizagem é o desenvolvimento de esquemas cognitivos em uma memória de longo prazo sem limites conhecidos e pode acontecer apenas se nossa limitada memória de trabalho puder processar novas informações apresentadas e a quantidade de informações que não contribui para a aprendizagem é baixo. De acordo com essa teoria, o aprendizado é ideal quando diminui o suporte instrucional, passando de exemplos trabalhados, via problemas de conclusão, para uma solução autônoma de problemas, e os alunos não se beneficiam praticando a recuperação com conteúdo complexo. No entanto, estudos sobre falhas produtivas e práticas de recuperação forneceram evidências claras contra essas duas diretrizes. Neste artigo, são discutidos problemas com a CLT e com pesquisas inspiradas nessa teoria, que permanecem amplamente ignorados entre os teóricos da carga cognitiva, mas provavelmente contribuíram para essas descobertas contraditórias. Este artigo conclui que essas questões devem nos fazer questionar a utilidade da CLT na educação em ciências da saúde, educação médica e outros domínios complexos e apresenta recomendações para a prática educacional e para pesquisas futuras sobre o assunto.
Assuntos
Educação em Saúde , MedicinaRESUMO
A large body of research shows that performing tests is more beneficial for the retention of studied materials than restudying those materials, a phenomenon termed "testing-effect". A contemporary debate on the testing effect literature concerns whether the benefits of tests are equivalent for individuals with different cognitive skills, as the capacity to decode written words, for example. In the current study, we approached this issue in two experiments by examining whether testing is equally beneficial for children with diverse visual word decoding skills. To achieve this goal, we recruited sixth and fourth grade children (experiments 1 and 2, respectively) and administered a reading aloud task to assess their visual word recognition skills, and administered a memory task about an encyclopedic text to promote the testing effect. Memory for the restudied/tested contents of the encyclopedic text were probed after a seven-day interval, and although children from both experiments showed robust testing effects, such effects were not associated with their visual word decoding skills. These findings suggest that children with diverse word decoding skills can be benefited by retrieval practice.
Assuntos
Aprendizagem , Memória/fisiologia , Leitura , Vocabulário , Brasil , Criança , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Percepção VisualRESUMO
Remembering recently studied materials (i.e., retrieval practice) is more beneficial for learning than restudying these materials. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether retrieval practice benefits learning for individuals with Down syndrome. METHODS: Eighteen individuals with Down syndrome (mean age=21.61 years, SD=5.93) performed a task entailing a first read of an encyclopedic text covering a series of target words. After reading the text twice, participants recalled half of the target words (retrieval practice), and reread the other half (restudy). After 48 hours, participants answered a multiple-choice test including all target words. Subsequently, WASI's Vocabulary and Matrix reasoning subtests were administered to estimate intelligence. RESULTS: The benefit of retrieval practice for learning was numerically greater than the benefit of restudy, although this advantage did not reach statistical significance. Inspection of individual data suggested that the benefit of retrieval practice was greater than the benefit of restudy for the majority of the participants, independently of the participants' vocabulary or reasoning abilities. CONCLUSION: Although more research is needed before retrieval practice can be recommended as a learning strategy for individuals with Down syndrome, the data suggest that retrieval practice can be a useful teaching tool for at least part of this population.
Lembrar materiais recentemente estudados (i.e., prática da recuperação) é melhor para a aprendizagem do que reestudar esses materiais. OBJETIVO: Investigar se a prática da recuperação beneficia a aprendizagem de indivíduos com síndrome de Down. MÉTODOS: Dezoito indivíduos com síndrome de Down (idade média=21,61, DP=5,93) leram um texto enciclopédico com várias palavras-alvo. Depois de o texto ser lido duas vezes, metade das palavras-alvo (prática de recuperação) foi relembrada, e metade foi relida (reestudo). Após 48 horas, os participantes responderam a um teste de múltipla escolha incluindo todas as palavras-alvo. A inteligência dos participantes foi avaliada pelos subtestes Raciocínio matricial e Vocabulário do WASI. RESULTADOS: O benefício da prática de recuperação para o aprendizado foi melhor quando comparado ao reestudo, embora essa diferença não tenha alcançado significância estatística. A inspeção de dados individuais sugeriu que o benefício da prática de recuperação foi melhor que o benefício do reestudo para a maioria dos participantes, independentemente do vocabulário ou capacidade de raciocínio. CONCLUSÃO: Embora mais pesquisas sejam necessárias para recomendar o uso dessa estratégia de aprendizado para essa população, os dados sugerem que a prática de recuperação pode ser uma ferramenta de ensino útil, para pelo menos parte dessa população.
RESUMO
ABSTRACT: Remembering recently studied materials (i.e., retrieval practice) is more beneficial for learning than restudying these materials. Objective: To investigate whether retrieval practice benefits learning for individuals with Down syndrome. Methods: Eighteen individuals with Down syndrome (mean age=21.61 years, SD=5.93) performed a task entailing a first read of an encyclopedic text covering a series of target words. After reading the text twice, participants recalled half of the target words (retrieval practice), and reread the other half (restudy). After 48 hours, participants answered a multiple-choice test including all target words. Subsequently, WASI's Vocabulary and Matrix reasoning subtests were administered to estimate intelligence. Results: The benefit of retrieval practice for learning was numerically greater than the benefit of restudy, although this advantage did not reach statistical significance. Inspection of individual data suggested that the benefit of retrieval practice was greater than the benefit of restudy for the majority of the participants, independently of the participants' vocabulary or reasoning abilities. Conclusion: Although more research is needed before retrieval practice can be recommended as a learning strategy for individuals with Down syndrome, the data suggest that retrieval practice can be a useful teaching tool for at least part of this population.
RESUMO: Lembrar materiais recentemente estudados (i.e., prática da recuperação) é melhor para a aprendizagem do que reestudar esses materiais. Objetivo: Investigar se a prática da recuperação beneficia a aprendizagem de indivíduos com síndrome de Down. Métodos: Dezoito indivíduos com síndrome de Down (idade média=21,61, DP=5,93) leram um texto enciclopédico com várias palavras-alvo. Depois de o texto ser lido duas vezes, metade das palavras-alvo (prática de recuperação) foi relembrada, e metade foi relida (reestudo). Após 48 horas, os participantes responderam a um teste de múltipla escolha incluindo todas as palavras-alvo. A inteligência dos participantes foi avaliada pelos subtestes Raciocínio matricial e Vocabulário do WASI. Resultados: O benefício da prática de recuperação para o aprendizado foi melhor quando comparado ao reestudo, embora essa diferença não tenha alcançado significância estatística. A inspeção de dados individuais sugeriu que o benefício da prática de recuperação foi melhor que o benefício do reestudo para a maioria dos participantes, independentemente do vocabulário ou capacidade de raciocínio. Conclusão: Embora mais pesquisas sejam necessárias para recomendar o uso dessa estratégia de aprendizado para essa população, os dados sugerem que a prática de recuperação pode ser uma ferramenta de ensino útil, para pelo menos parte dessa população.