Variety is the Spice of Life... and Learning

 

In a series of experiments on second language learning, researchers at found that learning was most effective when students engage in spaced retrieval practice—attempting to recall information over sessions separated by time — rather than simply restudying the information. However, rather than using the same context for each practice session, the researchers varied the cues, and found that learning improved when information was retrieved in slightly different ways during each attempt.

For example, in the study, instead of asking students to recall a vocabulary word within the same sentence every time, they were presented with different sentences that provided new context clues. Interestingly, participants often underestimated the effectiveness of varied cues and thought constant practice would be better, yet still showed improved memory performance with varied cues.

The researchers warn about this "metacognitive illusion" suggesting that if students are allowed to choose their own learning strategy, they may not choose the best one. Furthermore, if students perceive a given strategy to be ineffective, educators may be less willing to implement it. They suggest these findings should be taken into account when developing guidelines for effective learning practices.

StepUp Note

This research reminds us that “spaced retrieval” (learning pieces of information in small amounts every day) is the most useful in helping us remember what we learn.  Additionally, this new research adds “variable retrieval” (slight differences in the information we are learning). This research is supported by the neuroscience research showing how neural consolidation (memory) is increased through daily cycles of work/sleep. StepUp to Learn includes exercises that are repeated daily (spaced retrieval) and exercises that vary with small differences (variable retrieval) in words and/or movements for each exercise. StepUp is designed to help us learn and remember (instead of memorize and forget)!

Note by Nancy W Rowe, MS, CCC/A

The full article, The role of variable retrieval in effective learning was published in the October 2024 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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