This Full-Length Research Paper investigates the difficulty imposed by spaced retrieval practice in nine introductory Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. By improving student performance in these courses, evidence-based pedagogical practices have the potential to increase graduation and success in STEM fields. Spaced retrieval practice is a technique in which questions on the same topic are asked repeatedly over time with intermittent delays. Spacing may initially make retrieval more difficult because it requires learners to recall information from long-term as opposed to short-term memory. However, this difficulty may ultimately be “desirable” because spacing often produces memory benefits in the long-term. The current paper examines the difficulty imposed by spaced retrieval in the nine STEM courses, using data collected from a 3-year project funded by the National Science Foundation. Results indicated that the magnitude of the difficulty imposed by spacing varied widely across the diverse STEM barrier courses. We anticipate that we will find similarly wide variability in the effectiveness of spaced retrieval practice in students' final learning outcomes, which will be investigated in future work.
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Introducing desirable difficulty in engineering mathematics with spaced retrieval practice
This study examined the difficulty introduced by spaced retrieval practice in Calculus I for undergraduate engineering students. Spaced retrieval practice is an instructional technique in which students engage in multiple recall exercises on the same topic with intermittent temporal delays in between. Spacing out retrieval practice increases the difficulty of the exercises, reducing student performance on them. However, empirical research indicates that spaced retrieval practice is associated with improvements in students’ long-term memory for the retrieved information. The short-term costs and long-term benefits of spaced retrieval practice is an example of desirable difficulty, when more difficult exercises during the early stages of learning result in longer-lasting memory [1].
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), we sought to address: Does spacing decrease performance on retrieval practice exercises in an engineering mathematics course? Results showed that student performance was significantly lower for questions in the spaced condition than questions in the massed condition, indicating that we successfully increased the difficulty of the questions by spacing them out over time. Future work will assess final quiz performance to determine whether spacing improved long-term course performance, i.e., whether the difficulty imposed by spacing was desirable.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1912253
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10278219
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 128th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1-8
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract After being taught how to perform a new mathematical operation, students are often given several practice problems in a single set, such as a homework assignment or quiz (i.e., massed practice). An alternative approach is to distribute problems across multiple homeworks or quizzes, increasing the temporal interval between practice (i.e., spaced practice). Spaced practice has been shown to increase the long-term retention of various types of mathematics knowledge. Less clear is whether spacing
decreases performance during practice, with some studies indicating that it does and others indicating it does not. To increase clarity, we tested whether spacing produces long-term retention gains, but short-term practice costs, in a calculus course. On practice quizzes, students worked problems on various learning objectives in either massed fashion (3 problems on a single quiz) or spaced fashion (3 problems across 3 quizzes). Spacing increased retention of learning objectives on an end-of-semester test but reduced performance on the practice quizzes. The reduction in practice performance was nuanced: Spacing reduced performance only on the first two quiz questions, leaving performance on the third question unaffected. We interpret these findings as evidence that spacing led to more protracted, but ultimately more robust, learning. We, therefore, conclude that spacing imposes a desirable form of difficulty in calculus learning. -
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Abstract Background Undergraduate STEM instructors want to help students learn and retain knowledge for their future courses and careers. One promising evidence-based technique that is thought to increase long-term memory is spaced retrieval practice, or repeated testing over time. The beneficial effect of spacing has repeatedly been demonstrated in the laboratory as well as in undergraduate mathematics courses, but its generalizability across diverse STEM courses is unknown. We investigated the effect of spaced retrieval practice in nine introductory STEM courses. Retrieval practice opportunities were embedded in bi-weekly quizzes, either massed on a single quiz or spaced over multiple quizzes. Student performance on practice opportunities and a criterial test at the end of each course were examined as a function of massed or spaced practice. We also conducted a single-paper meta-analysis on criterial test scores to assess the generalizability of the effectiveness of spaced retrieval practice across introductory STEM courses.
Results Significant positive effects of spacing on the criterial test were found in only two courses (Calculus I for Engineers and Chemistry for Health Professionals), although small positive effect sizes were observed in two other courses (General Chemistry and Diversity of Life). Meta-analyses revealed a significant spacing effect when all courses were included, but not when calculus was excluded. The generalizability of the spacing effect across STEM courses therefore remains unclear.
Conclusions Although we could not clearly determine the generalizability of the benefits of spacing in STEM courses, our findings indicate that spaced retrieval practice could be a low-cost method of improving student performance in at least some STEM courses. More work is needed to determine when, how, and for whom spaced retrieval practice is most beneficial. The effect of spacing in classroom settings may depend on some design features such as the nature of retrieval practice activities (multiple-choice versus short answer) and/or feedback settings, as well as student actions (e.g., whether they look at feedback or study outside of practice opportunities). The evidence is promising, and further pragmatic research is encouraged.
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This WIP Research Paper investigates the temporal nature of the difficulty imposed by spacing. Spaced retrieval practice is an evidence-based strategy for improving memory and consists of asking multiple questions on a topic with intermittent delays. Spacing is often thought to impose difficulty by making questions harder to answer. However, this difficulty may be desirable, since spacing ultimately improves memory. In this paper, we (a) outline an implementation of spaced retrieval practice in an engineering mathematics classroom, (b) describe the development of an SQL database to organize and manage the large and complex dataset, and (c) discuss a brief but interesting dive into the rich data we have collected. Statistical analyses revealed that, when three questions targeting the same topic are spaced over multiple quizzes, versus being massed on a single quiz, students are less likely to answer the first and second questions correctly. Spacing does not affect students' ability to answer the third questions. This suggests that spacing may impose difficulty when students are first learning to perform mathematical operations, rather than when they are trying to retrieve memories of how to perform those operations.more » « less
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The focus of our current National Science Foundation (NSF: IUSE Award #1912253) project is the degree to which spaced retrieval practice, as compared to massed, increases performance on an end-of-semester exam in 10 different STEM courses (e.g., engineering, chemistry, biology). This paper presents an intermediate analysis examining the psychometric properties of the retrieval-practice exercises in two specific courses. The critical question is whether the psychometric properties of the exercises differ depending on whether they are spaced or massed. Preliminary results indicate that spacing does not consistently affect reliability of items, but can impact item difficulty.more » « less
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