The effects of summarization and factual retrieval practice on text comprehension and text retention in elementary education

When reading a text in school, the goal is both text comprehension and text retention. We examined the effects of the learning strategies summarization and factual retrieval practice on third- and fourth-grade pupils’ text comprehension and retention of factual knowledge from a text, using restudy as a control condition. The experiment was conducted in an authentic classroom setting, with teachers executing the experiment using original course materials. In 2016, 57 regular third- and fourth-grade pupils (M = 9.04 years old) read three different texts, and each applied three different learning strategies (summarization, retrieval practice and restudy, which were counterbalanced across texts) in subsequent practice sessions. After a 2-week delay, a final test was administered. The learning strategy summarization had a larger positive effect on text comprehension than factual retrieval practice, but had a similar effect compared to restudy. The learning strategy factual retrieval practice had a larger positive effect on text retention than both summarization and restudy. Implications for educational practice are discussed

The effect of retrieval practice on fluently retrieving multiplication facts in an authentic elementary school setting

Fluently retrieving simple multiplication facts leads to an improvement of overall math scores. In the current study, we investigated how to best reach this fluency in an authentic elementary school setting. We compared the short‐term and long‐term effects of the learning strategies retrieval practice (using flashcards) to a restudy control condition (chanting multiplication facts out loud) on multiplication fact fluency. Forty‐eight second‐grade pupils received an instruction lesson and attended three spaced practice sessions per learning strategy. The learning strategies were counterbalanced across two different sets of multiplication tables in a within‐subjects design. A pre‐test, a five‐minute delay post‐test, and a one‐week delay post‐test were administered. Compared to restudy, retrieval practice led to a stronger short‐term and long‐term increase in the fluency of retrieving multiplication facts. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of retrieval practice on gaining multiplication fact fluency in an authentic classroom setting using original course materials