Priming productive study strategies with preparatory quizzes in an engineering course

Abstract

One approach to encourage productive study strategies is to incorporate preparatory quizzes (or pre-quizzes) in which students are required to submit answers to questions before the underlying material is covered in class. In the present study, students took an introductory mechanical engineering class that either included pre-quizzes (treatment group) or did not (control group). Students in the treatment group visited the online textbook more often and earlier in advance of deadlines, indicating better management of their study time-behaviors that have been shown to be productive study strategies. They also performed better in the course, indicating that techniques intended to prime productive study strategies can pay off. Finally, measures of productive learning strategies correlated with measures of course performance for both groups. These findings support the pretesting principle, which holds that students study more effectively and learn better when they take practice tests before a lesson.

Using Virtual Reality to Improve Learning Mindsets and Academic Performance in Post-Secondary Students

“…Phase one research activities intended to validate the core premise that our priming strategies are transferable and "do work" within the digital realm to reduce scarcity thinking (anxiety inclusive) and increase cognitive availability measurable by academic performance improvements. We focused on preparatory priming interventions as they are a very common type of priming , Gyllen et al, 2021, and we expected them to have more noticeable effects. Based on our literature review (Chapter 2) and the main goal of preparing learners prior to the learning activity, we proposed to study two methods that have been generally successful in non-digital formats: positive affect priming through playing games (Brom et al, 2016), and mental relaxation through meditation (Mrazek et al, 2014).…”

“…The middle diagram in Figure 14 Preparatory Experience Priming (PEP) represents the most common form of priming as it is usually executed prior to the educational experience or activity (Dennis et al, 2013;Gyllen et al, 2021). Context Oriented Priming (COP) strives to create a realistic and positive environmental context based on situated learning theories (Brown et al, 1989;Lave and Wenger, 1991).…”

“…Nonetheless, this suggests that increased motivation and improved selfconfidence might be the mediating emotional variable in situated VR learning environments. PEP represents the most common form of priming that is usually done prior to the many activity (Dennis et al, 2013;Gyllen et al, 2021). We incorporated the other methods to include the entire learning cycle: MOP keeps the learners motivated during the learning activity (Humphreys and Revelle, 1984;Schunk and Pajeres, 2003;Bandura, 1977); REP allows reflection and sense-making after the activity which is an integral part of experiential learning cycle (Kolb, 1984); and finally, COP creates a realistic and positive context which is essential based on situated learning theories (Brown et al, 1989;Lave and Wenger, 1991).…”

“…These and other studies show that various forms of priming related activities intended to improve mindset or academic performance can help reduce scarcity and improve abundance mindset. Emotionally preparing prior to the main activity (Gyllen et al, 2021;Mrazek et al, 2014), changing situational context (Lave and Wenger, 1991), allowing reflection (Di Stefano et al, 2016), motivating (Ryan et al, 2006), directing attention (Porter et al, 2010;McClelland et al;, visualization (Davies, 2019, Wong et al, 2009, creativity (Isen et al, 1987;Bhagwatwar et al, 2018), and increased sense of inclusion (Peck et al, 2013, Banakou et al, 2016) are all viable priming intervention techniques.…”

“…Antecedent strategies may include changing pre-learning or preparatory activities, rituals, or changing the environmental context of the learning environment (lighting, music, seating arrangements, décor) or any potential environmental stimuli that may affect the learner. While initially applied to deal with problem behaviours like autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (Conroy et al, 2005), these antecedent intervention strategies are now targeted more widely and used as a tool for improving academic performance (Kruger et al, 2016;Gyllen et al, 2021).…”