A cognitive-science based programme to enhance study efficacy in a high and low risk setting

Abstract

In three experiments, learning performance in a 6-or 7-week cognitive-science based computer-study programme was compared to equal time spent self-studying on paper. The first two experiments were conducted with grade 6 and 7 children in a high risk educational setting, the third with Columbia University undergraduates. The principles the programme implemented included (1) deep, meaningful, elaborative, multimodal processing, (2) transfer-appropriate processing, (3) selfgeneration and multiple testing of responses, and (4) spaced practice. The programme was also designed to thwart metacognitive illusions that would otherwise lead to inappropriate study patterns. All three experiments showed a distinct advantage in final test performance for the cognitive-science based programme, but this advantage was particularly prominent in the children.A basic foundation for school accomplishment is the availability of higher order cognitive and metacognitive competencies to realistically assess one's knowledge, to allocate and organise study time and effort optimally, to apply cognitive principles (such as deep, elaborative rehearsal, self-generation, testing, and spacing of practice, to name just a few) that effectively enhance learning, and to resist the distractions that could undermine even the most sincerely endorsed intentions. In the population that we targeted in this research, a population of middle school children in an at-risk school setting, these competencies were strikingly limited. Their enhancement was the primary objective of this research. In addition, even among sophisticated learners, specific limitations exist in the use of certain metacognitive strategies. Children and adults often think they know things when they do not (see Metcalfe, 1998;Rawson & Dunlosky, 2007 this issue), and hence inappropriately terminate self-controlled study efforts, or otherwise study in a manner that fails to optimise learning (Bjork, 1994). We sought to devise a computerassisted study programme, based on principles of cognitive science, that would allow such metacognitive illusions to be overcome.The project reported here focused on memory enhancing principles derived from experimental studies in cognitive science. Most of these principles, because they have been studied primarily with a focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying memory and cognition, rather than on efforts to facilitate children's academic success, have been investigated in single-session experiments with scholastically irrelevant materials with college-student participants. Despite the apparent lack of connection of this cognitive science literature to real problems that children Correspondence should be addressed to Janet Metcalfe,

Distributed Practice and Retrieval Practice in Primary School Vocabulary Learning: A Multi‐classroom Study

“…As in the studies conducted on distributed practice, most experiments on retrieval practice have been conducted using word lists or word pairs (e.g., Bouwmeester & Verkoeijen, 2011;Carpenter, Pashler, & Vul, 2006;Carpenter, Pashler, Wixted, & Vul, 2008;Toppino & Cohen, 2009;Tulving, 1967;Wheeler, Ewers, & Buonanno, 2003) and foreign vocabulary pairs (e.g., Carpenter et al, 2008;Carrier & Pashler, 1992;Fritz, Morris, Acton, Voelkel, & Etkind, 2007;Karpicke, 2009;Karpicke & Roediger, 2008;Pashler, Cepeda, Wixted, & Rohrer, 2005;Pyc & Rawson, 2007Toppino & Cohen, 2009). Some studies have found a beneficial effect of retrieval practice for first language vocabulary learning, with adults (e.g., Cull, 2000;Karpicke & Smith, 2012), as well as with primary school children (e.g., Goossens, Camp, Verkoeijen, Tabbers, & Zwaan, 2014;Metcalfe, Kornell, & Son, 2007). However, none of these studies has been performed in the classroom using materials from the actual vocabulary curriculum.…”

The benefit of retrieval practice over elaborative restudy in primary school vocabulary learning

“…In this article, we will investigate one strategy that holds considerable promise for classroom application, namely learning. One study demonstrated that -compared to self-studylearning of definition-word pairs in sixth and seventh grade children was enhanced by using a computer program in which retrieval practice was included (Metcalfe, Kornell, & Son, 2007). In another study third graders practiced twenty words and their synonyms (Goossens, Camp, Verkoeijen, & Tabbers, 2014).…”

Improving encoding strategies as a function of test knowledge and experience

“…If learners, for example, are required to generate information during study (say, generating words from subsets of their letters), they tend to perform better on a later recall test for such information than do learners who simply read that same information presented intact during study. This memorial advantage for generation over reading-referred to as the generation effect (Jacoby, 1978;Slamecka & Graf, 1978; for a review, see Bertsch, Pesta, Wiscott, & McDaniel, 2007)-has been demonstrated to be a robust phenomenon, occurring for a variety of materials and in educational contexts (e.g., deWinstanley, 1995;McNamara & Healy, 1995a, b;Metcalfe, Kornell, & Son, 2007;Pesta, Sanders, & Murphy, 1999).…”