ZEYNEP GUNGOR was born in Turkey and studied at a German High School before coming to USA. She is a 3rd year UCLA psychology student, currently working in the Bjork Learning and Forgetting Lab as a research assistant. Zeynep is interested in understanding the processes that are involved in learning, which then  consequently affecting our daily practices

———————-

Learning is a challenging process and learning habits have always been an intriguing topic for researchers, but this topic is the greatest concern to us – students. Students learn a variety of things in a limited time. Years of research on How to Learn has shown that the way information is presented not only changes what we have learned but also affects how well we learnt. Today, I am going to talk about one very effective learning strategy – the spacing effect 

The Spacing Effect

The question here is whether, when learning for example a new math concept or Spanish vocabularies, should we immediately restudy what we have just learned to get it in our brain before moving on? or shall we wait for a while, study something else, and then restudy it?

In a typical research experiment of the spacing effect, there are three phases. First, the learner studies the information once and then takes a break: the spacing gap. Then, in the second phase, the learner studies the same information again. After another period of time, which is called the retention delay, the learner undergoes a final test related to the information he or she has studied. When there is a spacing gap between the two learning events, it is called ‘spaced practice.’ So, in spaced practice, you restudy the same material with breaks in between. When there is no spacing gap between the learning events, the repeated information occurs immediately and this is called ‘massed practice‘.

Many studies, dating back to the year 1885, have demonstrated that spaced practice has more long-term benefits and higher recall probability than massed practice.

Sobel, Cepeda, and Kapler (2011), for example, taught fifth graders the definitions of uncommon English words. Students learned these definitions through an interactive tutorial over two sessions. They either had these two sessions on the same day (massed condition) or on two separate days with one week in between (spaced condition). Their results showed that the students in the spaced conditions recalled more words when presented with a final test. Therefore, if you are going to study something, let time pass in between the first and second time you study.

For instance, let’s imagine you are studying psychology and you are required to read an article about the etiology of schizophrenia. Don’t read the article and then review it on the same day. Rather spread out your reading across numerous days, for example, review it after 4 days. You don’t necessarily study more this way, instead you have the exact same study time, but you just distribute it differently.

On college campuses it is very common to cram before an exam with sleepless nights. Cramming may work to learn the information for the exam the next day, but it will not benefit you in the long run. Like when you crammed for a midterm and let’s say the final is cumulative, which means the same material will be in the final or the next class in based on the previous class – Stats 1,2,3… In this case, you either have to cram the same material again, which would be a waste of time, or you can either be smart and space your study throughout the semester and have a better recall not just for the cumulative final exam but also for your next classes.

Thus, it is important to provide this evidence to the many students who think that massing is the best practice for learning. Students should use these research findings and implement spaced practice into their study habits. It is clear that….

if you want to end the quarter with a good grade; you would be better off studying throughout the semester, studying the material with gaps in between, rather than cramming before an exam. You should study, wait and then study again, and you will see that you acquired more information after the second session of studying.

In my next blog, I will talk about the …..The Interleaving Effect, look out for it.

ZEYNEP GUNGOR

About the Author

Lasting Learning was created to bring together the world’s foremost learning scientists with a focus on providing information about the best ways to enhance long-term retention of knowledge and skills across the lifespan. Our goal is to be a valuable and trusted resource for students, teachers, parents, athletes, coaches and anyone else who wants to learn the best ways to learn.

Related Posts
Mindset

By Saskia Giebl, Ph.D.(c)Dec 60

Praise Effort, Not So-called Natural Talent and Ability

“Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fastest one of all?” “My dear child, you are. You’ve got...

Read more
For Instructors

By Saskia Giebl, Ph.D.(c)Jun 10

When Practice Does Not Make Perfect

We’ve all heard the old adage, “practice makes perfect.” It’s the idea that if we just practice...

Read more
Nate Kornell, Ph.D.

By Nate Kornell, Ph.D.Aug 280

Do your assignments accomplish your goals?

One Question You Need to Ask Yourself About Your Syllabus This article was originally published in...

Read more

Leave a Reply

Our Story

In 2015, Cameron Broumand, an entrepreneur and father of three living in Los Angeles, stumbled upon a media article on the science of learning. After reading the piece, he realized that the valuable research findings in cognitive psychology and the learning sciences were almost entirely unknown to the public and, more surprisingly, to teachers. How could this be?! Broumand decided to find out, so he called Dr. Robert Bjork, a distinguished research professor at UCLA and one of the world’s leading experts in human learning and memory. After an insightful conversation with Dr. Bjork about the disconnect between research and practice, Broumand recognized an opportunity to improve our educational system. Shortly thereafter, he—along with Clement Mok, an award-winning designer and digital pioneer—founded the company, Lasting Learning. The goal of the company? To provide information to the public about how the science of learning can help transform and improve the way people teach and learn. Broumand asked learning scientists, Dr. Nick Soderstrom and Saskia Giebl, M.Sc. (both of whom were in Bjork’s lab at the time), to join the team. They happily agreed and, with the help of Carri O’Neill, have been giving talks, workshops, and webinars around the country ever since. The UCLA-Lasting Learning team has had the privilege to talk with thousands of teachers, coaches, parents, students, and athletes about how they can leverage the science of learning to enhance their educational practices. We look forward to talking with many more!