Towards an evidence-informed differentiated learning consolidation process to support classroom instruction

Despite many years of teaching experience, the differentiation and consolidation of classroom learning presented challenges for the researcher. In response, a Differentiated Learning Consolidation Process (DLCP) was developed through informal classroom-based action research over several years. Using low cost and accessible resources, it developed into a manageable supplementary intervention to support individual student needs and the retention of classroom instruction. Increasing interest from colleagues led the researcher to provide professional development on the instructional design and implementation of the DLCP. Through this experience, it became apparent that the DLCP theoretical assumptions were largely unknown. The current study was pursued to identify the theoretical components of the DLCP and determine if and how they could be aligned with evidence informed research. A simplified realist review was employed as it provided the opportunity to triangulate theory, the researcher’s contextual experience, and the investigation of the DLCP instructional design. The study determined that the DLCP was situated within the field of cognitive psychology, aligning with cognitive load theory and the new theory of disuse. Within the context of the DLCP, spaced practice, retrieval practice, interleaved practice and strategies associated with metacognitive development were investigated to identify maintenance or modification of the instructional design. The findings of this analysis may support teachers to differentiate and consolidate classroom instruction. Additionally, the DLCP may hold potential as an instrument for classroom-based research on variables related to its theoretical constructs

Mixing it Up: Developing Expertise in Forensic Fingerprint Examination Using Interleaved Practice

This item is only available electronically.Forensic fingerprint experts have a superior ability to differentiate highly similar print pairs, especially in comparison to novices (those with no experience in the interpretation of fingerprints). Few studies have investigated methods of effectively training novices to become experts. The current study draws on the principle of interleaved practice to train a small sample of fingerprint novices. Interleaving theory purports that ‘mixing’ exemplars from different categories has greater learning benefit than ‘massing’ exemplars from the same category. The current experiment applied this principle via a novel training paradigm in which one group of novices responded to fingerprints from different fingers (Mixed), and a second group responded to fingerprints from the same finger (Massed). An active control group completed a task unrelated to fingerprint examination. All participants completed a measure of fingerprint expertise performance (the xQ) immediately prior to each of 10 training sessions across 10 consecutive days, with a final measure of performance completed on the eleventh and final day of testing. It was predicted that both fingerprint training groups would exhibit significantly greater improvement on the xQ across sessions than controls, and that the Mixed training group would display superior performance across sessions compared to the Massed training group. Instead, the results suggested that, while the Massed training group performed more accurately overall, none of the three groups improved significantly over sessions. This study has potential implications for the training of future fingerprint experts and could reduce the risk of costly errors made by these experts.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 202

A state-of-the-art review of distribution-of-practice effects on L2 learning

The purpose of this state-of-the-art review is to provide a general overview of recent research on time distribution and second language (L2) learning with special implications for classroom settings. Several studies have been performed to examine how to best distribute the hours of L2 practice to maximize learning by comparing conditions that promote intensive exposure versus others in which L2 input or instruction is more widely spaced. Findings from these studies are relevant not only for practical purposes but also for theory development. This review provides a summary of recent studies as well as suggestions for pedagogical practice. Additionally, it identifies areas for future research concerning the effect of time distribution on L2 learning

Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum

The field of specialization known as the science of learning is not, in fact, one field. Science of learning is a term that serves as an umbrella for many lines of research, theory, and application. A term with an even wider reach is Learning Sciences (Sawyer, 2006). The present book represents a sliver, albeit a substantial one, of the scholarship on the science of learning and its application in educational settings (Science of Instruction, Mayer 2011). Although much, but not all, of what is presented in this book is focused on learning in college and university settings, teachers of all academic levels may find the recommendations made by chapter authors of service. The overarching theme of this book is on the interplay between the science of learning, the science of instruction, and the science of assessment (Mayer, 2011). The science of learning is a systematic and empirical approach to understanding how people learn. More formally, Mayer (2011) defined the science of learning as the “scientific study of how people learn” (p. 3). The science of instruction (Mayer 2011), informed in part by the science of learning, is also on display throughout the book. Mayer defined the science of instruction as the “scientific study of how to help people learn” (p. 3). Finally, the assessment of student learning (e.g., learning, remembering, transferring knowledge) during and after instruction helps us determine the effectiveness of our instructional methods. Mayer defined the science of assessment as the “scientific study of how to determine what people know” (p.3). Most of the research and applications presented in this book are completed within a science of learning framework. Researchers first conducted research to understand how people learn in certain controlled contexts (i.e., in the laboratory) and then they, or others, began to consider how these understandings could be applied in educational settings. Work on the cognitive load theory of learning, which is discussed in depth in several chapters of this book (e.g., Chew; Lee and Kalyuga; Mayer; Renkl), provides an excellent example that documents how science of learning has led to valuable work on the science of instruction. Most of the work described in this book is based on theory and research in cognitive psychology. We might have selected other topics (and, thus, other authors) that have their research base in behavior analysis, computational modeling and computer science, neuroscience, etc. We made the selections we did because the work of our authors ties together nicely and seemed to us to have direct applicability in academic settings

Memory and metacognition in classroom learning : the role of item order in learning with particular reference to the interleaving effect

Education needs to be effective, but previous research suggests that teachers and learners alike are not always aware of which practices lead to lasting, transferable learning and which do not. In particular, research into evidence-based teaching strategies such as the spacing effect, interleaving and retrieval practice have shown a striking mismatch between what classroom choices are supported by the evidence and metacognitive beliefs on the part of learners. In part, this is because these strategies make the process of learning more challenging and error-prone; what Bjork and Bjork (1991) refer to as desirable difficulties tend to lead to poorer performance in the short-term but better learning in the long-term. As such, they are often mistakenly rejected by learners who cannot easily perceived their benefits. This thesis focuses on desirable difficulties that relate to the timing and order in which classroom examples are presented, and in particular on interleaving – the process of mixing or alternating the order of examples during learning. Previous research has established the strength and boundary conditions of other desirable difficulties such as the spacing effect (Cepeda et al., 2006) but a clear picture of these issues was lacking when it came to interleaving. A systematic review was therefore conducted to gauge the strength of the evidence on interleaving, and its potential for application to the secondary classroom. It found that interleaving (as compared to blocking) is associated with high effect sizes which persist across experimental designs and do not appear to be biased by the work of specific labs. However, there was also a gap in the literature when it came to classroom-based field research on the technique, and very little work had been done which related directly to higher-order skills – a key element of many exam-based courses. The next stage of this thesis was therefore to extend investigation of interleaving to classroom situations, focusing particularly on psychology teaching at school level. In a pilot study, high school students engaged in an introductory week for a psychology course experienced spaced and interleaved learning tasks, allowing a computer-based methodology to be tested but revealing no effect of interleaving in the context of brief presentations of factual information. A follow-up which used similar methodology applied to learning the skills of application and evaluation found an advantage of interleaving over blocking. The latter study also found a trend in favour of self-explanation – another desirable difficulty – that did not reach significance. As desirable difficulties are often counterintuitive, this thesis also aimed to investigate whether teachers would endorse these techniques, and what might discourage them from doing so. A wide-ranging survey on learning and memory suggested that teachers’ beliefs about memory are generally more accurate than prior findings among the general public, but are out of line with the scientific consensus when it comes to desirable difficulties such as spacing and retrieval practice. A follow-up study focused on three techniques in particular – interleaving, spacing, and retrieval practice (all desirable difficulties). New student teachers and in-service teachers were shown a set of vignettes, each of which presented a classroom situation relating to one of these techniques and required a response on a 7-point scale to indicate their belief in which of two alternatives (for example, interleaving vs. blocking) would lead to better outcomes. This study found that a minority of teachers favoured the techniques overall, though spacing was more widely endorsed (49% overall) than retrieval practice (30%), and interleaving was endorsed least of all (4%). No relationship was found between years of experience and accuracy across the sample of in-service teachers, and this group were less accurate than the student teachers, supporting the idea that experience does not help when it comes to adopting teaching techniques which are based on counterintuitive features of human memory. Finally, the thesis addresses the implications of these findings for both teaching and professional learning. It considers the role of both interleaving and other related techniques, as well as looking at ways of inculcating research evidence into the profession. It is noted that flawed beliefs about learning and memory often link to teacher identity, and that this is a barrier when it comes to teachers’ choosing to engage with evidence (or not). Some synthesis from the ideas can be achieved by considering the role of desirable difficulties as professional learning tools, and a series of recommendations are set out. The methodology used in the research – systematic reviewing and computer-based field experiments – is also evaluated, and directions for future work identified.Education needs to be effective, but previous research suggests that teachers and learners alike are not always aware of which practices lead to lasting, transferable learning and which do not. In particular, research into evidence-based teaching strategies such as the spacing effect, interleaving and retrieval practice have shown a striking mismatch between what classroom choices are supported by the evidence and metacognitive beliefs on the part of learners. In part, this is because these strategies make the process of learning more challenging and error-prone; what Bjork and Bjork (1991) refer to as desirable difficulties tend to lead to poorer performance in the short-term but better learning in the long-term. As such, they are often mistakenly rejected by learners who cannot easily perceived their benefits. This thesis focuses on desirable difficulties that relate to the timing and order in which classroom examples are presented, and in particular on interleaving – the process of mixing or alternating the order of examples during learning. Previous research has established the strength and boundary conditions of other desirable difficulties such as the spacing effect (Cepeda et al., 2006) but a clear picture of these issues was lacking when it came to interleaving. A systematic review was therefore conducted to gauge the strength of the evidence on interleaving, and its potential for application to the secondary classroom. It found that interleaving (as compared to blocking) is associated with high effect sizes which persist across experimental designs and do not appear to be biased by the work of specific labs. However, there was also a gap in the literature when it came to classroom-based field research on the technique, and very little work had been done which related directly to higher-order skills – a key element of many exam-based courses. The next stage of this thesis was therefore to extend investigation of interleaving to classroom situations, focusing particularly on psychology teaching at school level. In a pilot study, high school students engaged in an introductory week for a psychology course experienced spaced and interleaved learning tasks, allowing a computer-based methodology to be tested but revealing no effect of interleaving in the context of brief presentations of factual information. A follow-up which used similar methodology applied to learning the skills of application and evaluation found an advantage of interleaving over blocking. The latter study also found a trend in favour of self-explanation – another desirable difficulty – that did not reach significance. As desirable difficulties are often counterintuitive, this thesis also aimed to investigate whether teachers would endorse these techniques, and what might discourage them from doing so. A wide-ranging survey on learning and memory suggested that teachers’ beliefs about memory are generally more accurate than prior findings among the general public, but are out of line with the scientific consensus when it comes to desirable difficulties such as spacing and retrieval practice. A follow-up study focused on three techniques in particular – interleaving, spacing, and retrieval practice (all desirable difficulties). New student teachers and in-service teachers were shown a set of vignettes, each of which presented a classroom situation relating to one of these techniques and required a response on a 7-point scale to indicate their belief in which of two alternatives (for example, interleaving vs. blocking) would lead to better outcomes. This study found that a minority of teachers favoured the techniques overall, though spacing was more widely endorsed (49% overall) than retrieval practice (30%), and interleaving was endorsed least of all (4%). No relationship was found between years of experience and accuracy across the sample of in-service teachers, and this group were less accurate than the student teachers, supporting the idea that experience does not help when it comes to adopting teaching techniques which are based on counterintuitive features of human memory. Finally, the thesis addresses the implications of these findings for both teaching and professional learning. It considers the role of both interleaving and other related techniques, as well as looking at ways of inculcating research evidence into the profession. It is noted that flawed beliefs about learning and memory often link to teacher identity, and that this is a barrier when it comes to teachers’ choosing to engage with evidence (or not). Some synthesis from the ideas can be achieved by considering the role of desirable difficulties as professional learning tools, and a series of recommendations are set out. The methodology used in the research – systematic reviewing and computer-based field experiments – is also evaluated, and directions for future work identified

Effect of Teaching Sequence on ESL Students’ Learning of Syntactic Cohesive Devices Using Sentence Transformation

This research aims to investigate the effects of two teaching sequences – interleaving and blocking – on the participants’ use of three types of cohesive devices (conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs and prepositions [thereafter CCPs]) in their argumentative essays. The participants included 50 native Cantonese-speaking university students taking an academic writing course. Interleaving refers to the teaching sequence in which learners practice several skills at one time whereas in blocking only one skill is practiced at one time.Prior to essay writing, participants were taught CCPs using sentence transformation. One class was taught using interleaving and the other blocking. The first and the second drafts of the argumentative essay served as pre-and post-tests. The total numbers of CCPs used correctly both syntactically and semantically in their argumentative essays were counted for the pre-tests and post-tests for both groups. Results of Paired Samples and Independent t-tests suggest that neither of the two teaching sequences was more effective than the other in raising the participants’ total instances of CCPs; however, blocking appears to be more effective in boosting the use of prepositions as linking words. Sentence transformation, whether administered in the interleaved or blocked sequence, was considered to have served the teaching purpose of providing an opportunity for the students to engage in serious thinking about the semantic relationship between two given sentences

An investigation of the processes underlying late-phase long-term potentiation

In this thesis I have investigated the role of RNA and protein synthesis, during the late-phase of hippocampal long-term potentiation (L-LTP). Additionally, the involvement of protein kinase C (PKC) in the induction of this late phase was addressed. Using protocols that allowed hippocampal slices to be maintained for long periods, L-LTP lasting 8 hours or more was successfully achieved. Field EPSPs were recorded from pyramidal cells in the CAl region of the stratum radiatum. Tetanically induced L-LTP was blocked by bath application of inhibitors of transcription (actinomycin-D) and translation (emetine), whilst L-LTP in slice preparations lacking presynaptic cells bodies was unaffected. In addition, bath application of bisindolylmaleimide I, a highly selective inhibitor of PKC, was found to block both E-LTP and L-LTP induction if applied within the first 15 minutes, after the tetanus. These results are consistent with a requirement for both protein synthesis and postsynaptic RNA synthesis during L-LTP induction, coupled with a requirement for a critical period of PKC activity. The locus of protein synthesis during L-LTP in CAl pyramidal cells was investigated by focally applying emetine to apical dendrites, while stimulating afferents to basal and apical dendrites. This significantly reduced L-LTP in the projection to apical dendrites, whilst leaving L-LTP unaffected in the projection to basal dendrites. Focal application of emetine to the cell bodies had no significant effect on L-LTP in either the apical or basal dendrites. Furthermore, preliminary data suggest that L-LTP in the basal dendrites is unaffected by focal emetine application. These experiments provide evidence that pyramidal cells in the CAl region of the hippocampus can support two different forms of L-LTP: type I, in the apical dendrites (stratum radiatum) that depends on protein synthesis, and a component of which relies on local dendritic protein synthesis and type II, in the basal dendrites (stratum oriens), that remains protein synthesis-independent for at least 8 hours

The effects of practice schedule on learning a complex judgment task

Helsdingen, A. S., Van Gog, T., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2011). The effects of practice schedule on learning a complex judgment task. Learning & Instruction, 21(1), 126-136. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.12.001The effects of practice schedule on learning a complex judgment task were investigated. In Experiment 1, participants' judgment accuracy on a retention test was higher after a random practice schedule than after a blocked schedule or operational schedule. Experiment 2 demonstrated that judgment on a transfer test was also better after a random practice schedule than after a blocked schedule. Both experiments failed to show any effects of practice schedule on performance during learning. These findings show that benefits of random practice for retention and transfer apply to learning a complex judgment task, and may be achieved without performance degradation during practice