ITEC 715

Week 13

Computer Foundations for Instructional Multimedia

Recent Research on Assessments

This Week:

ITEC 715Research on Assessments

Learning Objective: When presented with any word from a learner-studied list of 40 English-Swahili word-pairs, the learner must be able to correctly recall the given word’s pair.

Example: (study): mashua-boat (test): mashua- ?

See: Karpicke, J.D., and Roediger, H.L., III (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science, 319, 966-968 (February 15 2008)

ITEC 715Research on Assessments

See: Karpicke, J.D., and Roediger, H.L., III (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science, 319, 966-968 (February 15 2008)

Research Objectives• After a paired word can be recalled correctly once, what is the

effect of four different study/assessment strategies on long-term retention? Each uses an alternating sequence of “study” and “test” periods. The strategies investigated were:

1. Continue to study all 40 words and to test learners on all 40 words (ST)

2. Drop correctly recalled words from study sessions, but continue to test learners on the whole list of words (SNT)

3. Continue to study the whole list of words, but drop correctly recalled words from subsequent tests (STN)

4. Drop correctly recalled words from subsequent study and test sessions (SNTN)

ITEC 715Research on Assessments

The Experiment: College students were divided into 4 groups (ST, SNT, STN, SNTN) and cycled through four study/test sessions.

After a week delay, a final test assessed long-term retention for each group.

Study

Test

ST SNT STN SNTN

See: Karpicke, J.D., and Roediger, H.L., III (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science, 319, 966-968 (February 15 2008)

Question: Which strategy will yield the best

long-term retention?

Research on Assessments

• Experimental Data:

ITEC 715Research on Assessments

Total number of study trials

Total number of test trials

160 160

76.8 160

160 83

77.4 77.4

See: Karpicke, J.D., and Roediger, H.L., III (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science, 319, 966-968 (February 15 2008)

• Experimental Results:

ITEC 715Research on Assessments

Total number of study trials

Total number of test trials

160 160

76.8 160

160 83

77.4 77.4

See: Karpicke, J.D., and Roediger, H.L., III (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science, 319, 966-968 (February 15 2008)

ST and STN Same number of study trials (160 each) SNT and SNTN Similar number of study trials (76.8, 77.4)

ST and SNT Same number of test trials (160 each)STN and SNTN Similar number of test trials (83, 77.4)

Dat

a A

naly

sis:

ITEC 715Research on Assessments

See: Karpicke, J.D., and Roediger, H.L., III (2008). The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning. Science, 319, 966-968 (February 15 2008)

Conclusion: “Repeated retrievalpractice enhanced long-term retention, whereas

repeated studying produced essentially no benefit.” [p. 967]

“…about 80 more study trials occurred in the STN condition than in the SNTN condition, but this produced practically no gain in retention. Likewise, about 80 more study trials occurred in the ST condition than in the SNT condition, and this produced no gain whatsoever in retention. However, when about 80 more test trials occurred in the learning phase (in the ST condition versus the STN condition, and in the SNT condition versus the SNTN condition), repeated retrieval practice led to greater than 150% improvements in long-term retention.” [p. 967]

• Bring in your script next week for an internal peer review with your classmates. The final script will be due May 10.

• On May 17, 2012 (Week 17), you will give your presentation on your final project, and turn in the Final PowerPoint deck of your project, your Page-Type Variety Spreadsheet, and your ID Checklist.

For Next Week