Mastering learning can take many hours1 so it makes sense for students to use the most effective practice strategies. Research has identified 'spaced retrieval practice' 2,3 as top of the list! Spaced retrieval involves distributing the quizzing of classroom learning over time. I'm Nicola Carr-White and my research Masters of Education focused on applying spaced retrieval practice to the Mastery Learning Folder process to provide teachers and parents with a manageable and effective practice strategy for students.
Mastery Learning Folders ... for lessons worth remembering.
A Mastery Learning Folder is a tool that makes individualised and systematic practice manageable. Content can include foundational knowledge and skills to more complex understandings4. Mastery Learning Folders can used by students of all ages, and as a tool to support tutoring and speech pathology services. A free Flashcard Club containing hundreds of flashcards supports foundational junior primary learning.
Every lesson should be one to remember, so I invite you to click on your context below or Schedule-A-Chat to discuss the needs of your students.
Spaced retrieval practice is one of several cognitive psychology based learning strategies used within the Mastery Learning Folder process. Others include interleaved practice, elaboration and strategies for metacognitive development which assist students to regulate and monitor their own learning.
References
1 Ericsson, A., & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: How all of us can achieve extraordinary things. Random House.
2 Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.
3 Centennial College. (2020, May 13). Spaced Retrieval [Video]. You Tube. https://youtu.be/PfQuuA_GbGE
4 Agarwal, P. K., & Bain, P. M. (2019). Powerful teaching: Unleash the science of learning. Jossey-Bass.
“To date, more than 300 experiments in more than 150 articles dating back more than 100 years (Abbott, 1909) have shown that practice tests that require recall of target information from memory (i.e., retrieval practice) improve memory” (Rawson & Dunlosky, 2011, p. 283).