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GUEST POST: Who Really Benefits from Retrieval Practice

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GUEST POST: Who Really Benefits from Retrieval Practice

So, what does this mean?

First of all, although the benefits of testing have been extensively reported, it appears that not all participants, at least among college students, do benefit directly from testing. In fact, for about 1/3 of our participants, retrieval practice made them worse. Does this mean we should stop incorporating testing as a pedagogical technique? Probably not – there are other benefits of retrieval practice (such as more frequent review of material, increased metacognitive awareness, and so on [8]). However, we would encourage students and learners of all ages to critically evaluate what works for them and what doesn’t.

Second, even among participants who do benefit from testing, the benefits vary. Testing might be more beneficial at some levels of learning than at others. When material is too easy or too difficult, the expected benefits might not be evident and frustration could result. Again, we recommend critically assessing which strategies are effective in which situations.

 

References:

(1) Karpicke, J. D., Blunt, J. R., & Smith, M. A. (2016). Retrieval-based learning: Positive effects of retrieval practice in elementary school children. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 350. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00350

(2) Agarwal, P. K., Bain, P. M., & Chamberlain, R. W. (2012). The value of applied research: Retrieval practice improves classroom learning and recommendations from a teacher, a principal, and a scientist. Educational Psychology Review, 24(3), 437-448. doi:10.1007/s10648-012-9210-2

(3) Coane, J. H. (2013). Retrieval practice and elaborative encoding benefit memory in younger and older adults. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 2(2), 95-100. doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2013.04.001

(4) Sumowski, J. F., Coyne, J., Cohen, A., & Deluca, J. (2014). Retrieval practice improves memory in survivors of severe traumatic brain injury. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 95(2), 397-400. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2013.10.021

(5) Agarwal, P. K., Finley, J. R., Rose, N. S., & Roediger, H. L. (2017). Benefits from retrieval practice are greater for students with lower working memory capacity. Memory, 25(6), 764-771. doi:10.1080/09658211.2016.1220579

(6) Brewer, G.A., & Unsworth, N. (2012). Individual differences in the effects of retrieval from long-term memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 66, 407-415. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2011.12.009.

(7) Nelson, T. O., & Dunlosky, J. (1994). Norms of paired-associate recall during multitrial learning of Swahili-English translation equivalents. Memory, 2, 325-335. doi: 10.1080/09658219408258951

(8) Roediger, H. L., Putnam, A. L., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Ten benefits of testing and their applications to educational practice. In J. Mestre & B. Ross (Eds.), Psychology of learning and motivation: Cognition in education (pp. 1-36). Oxford: Elsevier.

Weekly Digest #131: Increasing Grading/Marking Efficiency

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Weekly Digest #131: Increasing Grading/Marking Efficiency

Grading (marking in the UK context) can be a time-consuming and, at times, annoying task that teachers face on a regular basis. How can we make grading more efficient and less burdensome, but at the same time provide students with the important feedback that helps them improve their performance in the future? We dedicated a weekly digest to this 2.5 years ago, but we thought it would be nice to have an update with some new, additional resources – given that grading season is here.

Understanding Sample Sizes and the Word “Significant”

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Understanding Sample Sizes and the Word “Significant”

One big issue related to sample size requires us to talk about what the word significance means in a scientific context. In “the real world,” significant means noteworthy, or worthy of attention. However, this is not what scientists typically mean when they say significant. Often, we are talking about statistical significance, and this is a totally different thing. When we say a finding is statistically significant, what we typically mean is that two groups (or more) were found to be different, and we’re willing to say that the difference is unlikely to be due to chance.

Here’s a completely made-up concrete example: Imagine we want to see whether an extra 30 minutes in college classes improves students’ grades in those classes. One team of researchers randomly assigns 200 students to stay an extra 30 minutes in class, and another 200 students to leave at the normal time. Imagine the researchers find a small difference between the two groups, but it is not statistically significant. They conclude that there is no reason to believe that additional time in class improves students’ grades. Now, imagine another team of researchers conducts the exact same study, only this time they randomly assign 2,000 students to stay an extra 30 minutes and 2,000 students to leave at the normal time. Imagine this team of researchers does find that the group that stays in class for an extra 30 minutes earn (statistically) significantly higher grades than the group that leaves at the normal time. This means that the difference between these two groups is not likely due to chance. The probability that we accidentally found a difference between the groups is very low. So low, in fact, that scientists are willing to say the finding is “significant.”

The issue here is that statistical significance does not signify a large or meaningful effect. In the fictitious example above, the effect may not be found by the first team of researchers because the effect size is very small, and there weren’t enough participants in the study to detect the effect. All things being equal, the smaller the effect, the greater the sample size we need to find it. But there does come a point where, at least for applied research, an effect is so small that it is not meaningful. If 30 minutes extra in class is enough to increase students grades by 2%, is it worth the extra 30 minutes? What about 1%? Even less? Are there other things we could do in the classroom that would take less time and improve grades even more? The greater the sample size, the more likely we are to find a statistically significant difference between groups, but that doesn’t mean the effect we find is meaningful. With infinitely large sample sizes, we can actually find statistically significant differences between basically anything. (For more on this, see this article.)

Another thing to keep in mind while evaluating research findings is that a study with a large sample is not necessarily a study that is more generalizable, or applies to a more diverse group of people. This is because simply increasing the sample size does not necessarily mean that the study will have a diverse sample. For example, imagine a study that is conducted at an elite private high school with only girls aged 15-16. In this case increasing the sample size from 100 to 1000 is not going to allow the researchers to generalize much past girls aged 15 to 16 at an elite private school. This is not to say this study would not be valuable; if this is the population of interest and the research question is important, then so long as the study is designed and executed well the results should be informative. But in this case, a sample of 1000 girls is not necessarily better than a sample of 100 girls.

In addition to the points already mentioned, there are tons of other factors that need to be considered when evaluating and interpreting research to see if a result is meaningful and whether it should be applied in a given setting. How homogeneous (similar) is our sample and the population of interest? How much error or random variation is inherent in what we’re measuring (for example, test performance) and how we measure it (for example, in a multiple-choice test)? How many trials or repetitions are there (for example, questions on a test or ways we are assessing something)? What is the design of the study – are all participants doing all conditions, or are different groups of participants doing each one? The factors seem endless. Researchers also have to consider what types of statistics we are using, whether we are paying close attention to effect sizes, and the precision with which we can measure those effect sizes. Are there going to be replications, and are we presenting all of the data, even those results that don’t show an effect? What about meta-analysis procedures? These are all issues perhaps to be discussed in another blog!

We often have this idea that more is always better, and when we learn about basic research methods in high school or college, often this rule of thumb is taught in place of the extremely nuanced reality. However, as with many things, it really depends!

Film Club: ‘Why I’ll Raise My Daughters to Be Strong, Not Polite’

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Film Club: ‘Why I’ll Raise My Daughters to Be Strong, Not Polite’

• What messages, emotions or ideas will you take away from this film? Why?

• What questions do you still have?

3. An additional challenge: What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

6. To learn more, read about the video series, Conception. “Conception Season 2: What’s It Like to Be a Parent in 2018?” begins:

In 2018, it can feel like what divides our society — race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status — is more evident than what unites it.

So, our video series asked parents: What is it like to parent in the context of major cultural, social and political shifts, such as #MeToo, the immigration discussion, the opioid crisis and the gun debate? How do we raise children in a world that already sees them — and you — in a certain way?

Hundreds of you submitted your stories about parenting in the context of race, mental health, gender identity, the rise of social media, infertility, the changing nature of work, incarceration and income inequality.

_________

More?

• See all the films in this series.

• Read our list of practical teaching ideas, along with responses from students and teachers, for how you can use these documentaries in the classroom.

We Tried 5 Cold-Weather Experiments. Instant Slushies, Frozen Bubbles and More.

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We Tried 5 Cold-Weather Experiments. Instant Slushies, Frozen Bubbles and More.

For the latest developments, read our cold weather live briefing.

EVANSTON, Ill. — It was minus 15 degrees here on Wednesday afternoon, near the epicenter of the polar vortex, and school had been canceled for much of the week.

“How are we going to survive?” one mother asked on a text thread Tuesday night. My phone pinged at 9 a.m. Wednesday with a plaintive message from someone else: “We’ve already gone through my two craft projects, painted and watched an hour of TV.”

At times like these, modern parents turn to Google and YouTube and Pinterest, which beckon with seemingly simple and fun science experiments for frigid temperatures.

But as my 7-year-old son, Gus, and his friend Eren, 8, learned on Wednesday when we tested a handful of popular cold-weather experiments, science doesn’t always follow the neat path of a viral video.

Several videos demonstrate how to super-chill soda. A similar experiment instantly freezes water.

We shook up two one-liter bottles of Sprite and placed them outside of our front door, where my phone told me it was minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. We also put a small bottle of spring water alongside them to test the instant-ice trick.

The idea was to try to cool the soda and the water below their freezing point without turning them solid. Without the impurities found in tap water, there is nothing to start the nucleation process that causes water to freeze, delivering a supercooled liquid that, once jostled or disturbed, will instantly turn to a slushy ice.

But two hours later, the bottles outside our house were already halfway solid. Eren, Gus and my 3-year-old daughter, Hildy, didn’t seem to care as they slurped down cups of the stuff.

“What did we learn today?” my husband, Alex, said. “The internet is broken.”

Olivia Castellini, a senior exhibit developer at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, offered several other possible explanations. Our spring water might not have been pure enough, and we may have waited too long. Next time, she recommended timing how long it took to freeze one bottle, then putting out another bottle and returning about 15 minutes earlier to catch the liquid at exactly the moment. “You have to find just the right amount of time to super cool it,” Dr. Castellini said.

This experiment is designed to show how the volume of a gas expands as it warms, and contracts as it cools. The method: Blow up balloons in warm air, then expose them to cold air and they will deflate. They will reinflate when you return them to warm air.

This is the same reason car tires deflate in cold weather, said Michael Kennedy, a research professor and director of Northwestern University’s Science in Society, a science education center.

We inflated half a dozen balloons inside, then bundled up and went outside to wait for them to shrink in the minus 39 degree windchill. And we waited. Gus and Eren decided to bury their balloons in a snow bank. Hildy’s flew into the street.

When we could no longer feel our noses, we put the remaining balloons in a bag, tied it to the door handle, and rushed inside. After about 45 minutes, the balloons had deflated only slightly and we realized we hadn’t been very scientific: It might have wise to first measure the balloons’ original circumference, for example.

Alex, the lab assistant, prepared the balloon experiment for the scientists.CreditDanielle Scruggs for The New York Times

Once back inside, the balloons did return to their previous shape, but by this time only the adults cared. The child scientists wanted more Sprite slushies.

Dr. Castellini recommended tying a string around the balloons, placing them outside, in a window, where you can watch them from the comfort of your home. When the string falls off, they’ve shrunk.

Of all the cold-weather experiments, the one I was most looking forward to was the frozen-bubble trick. The online videos are magical, demonstrating how a normally ethereal soap bubble hardens into a lacy globe when the temperature is just right.

We tried two versions of bubble wands — a more traditional wand with a small, round opening, and a large, oblong variety designed for bigger bubbles.

Once outside, both wands created perfect bubbles, but it was hard to get a look at them because the wind whipped them down the street. Still, it was fun to watch them pop as they flew out of the wands, leaving frozen skins that dropped to the ground. If we waited too long, the bubble solution froze in the wand, creating a translucent pane that we could poke with our fingers.

Bubbles, Dr. Castellini said, are really a “water and soap sandwich,” with soap encasing a layer of water. In warmer weather, the air inside the bubble expands as it warms, popping the bubble before it gets far. But in cold weather, the water sandwiched inside the soap has a chance to freeze before the bubble pops.

Dr. Kennedy suggested experimenting with different solutions to create the longest-lasting bubbles. Many people add glycerin, which gives the bubble strength, he said.

This trick resurfaces during nearly every cold snap, along with the inevitable safety warnings (to riff off Jim Croce, don’t throw it into the wind).

“The cool thing about water is that it can exist in liquid, solid and gas states all at the same time,” Dr. Castellini said. By throwing boiling water into frigid air, she said, “you’re manipulating that transition.” Because cold air can’t absorb water the way warm air can, the water that is thrown has to go somewhere — so it freezes in tiny droplets and falls to the ground in a dramatic cloud.

The experiment works best with extremely cold air, and we certainly had that on Wednesday. We repeated the experiment four times — throwing about a half of a cup of boiling water out of a steel travel mug — and each time, the water dissipated in a billowing puff of ice crystals.

Given the demand for Sprite slushies, I had saved our other sugar-laden experiment for last.

Several websites describe a simple recipe for maple syrup taffy. Pack snow into a pan and place it in the freezer. Heat maple syrup to about 240 degrees Fahrenheit, checking with a candy thermometer. Pour the syrup over the snow, where it will harden into a chewy taffy.

The hypothesis: That pouring boiling maple syrup on cold, cold snow would make taffy.CreditDanielle Scruggs for The New York Times

Our syrup boiled over when it reached about 220 degrees, preventing us from heating it to the right temperature. By now, the children had ripped their blankets from their beds, fashioned them into capes, and were begging for iPad time. I poured the syrup over the snow, and the hot liquid turned everything into a slushy mess. No taffy in sight.

Use a larger pot next time, our science consultants suggested, and cook the syrup more slowly.

There’s still time to try again, I suppose. The high on Thursday is expected to be just slightly warmer, at minus 1 degree, and school is still canceled.

Not all experiments turn out as planned.

“But that’s really the fun of science, is that you didn’t get the results you expect,” Dr. Kennedy said. “You start asking questions about why didn’t I get what I thought?”

“At the heart of science are questions,” he said, “not facts.”

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Feb. 6, 2019

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What’s Going On in This Graph? | Feb. 6, 2019

1. The graph above breaks down how we consumed music in 2018 by genre. How do traditional sales (defined as sales and radio play) compare to traditional sales combined with streaming? The chart below provides additional relevant information. Both originally appeared elsewhere on NYTimes.com.

After looking closely at the graph and chart above, think about these three questions:

• What do you notice?
• What do you wonder?
What are you curious about that comes from what you notice in the graphs?
• What might be going on in this graph?
Write a catchy headline that captures the graph’s main idea. If your headline makes a claim, tell us what you noticed that supports your claim.

The questions are intended to build on one another, so try to answer them in order. Start with “I notice,” then “I wonder,” and end with “The story this graph is telling is ….” and a catchy headline.

2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment. Teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say, or they can have their students use this same activity on Desmos.)

3. After you have posted, read what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting a comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

On Wednesday, Feb. 6, our collaborator, the American Statistical Association, will facilitate this discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.

4. On the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 7, we will reveal more information about the graph at the bottom of this post. Students, we encourage you to post an additional comment after reading the reveal. How do the original New York Times article and the moderators’ comments help you see the graph differently? Try to incorporate the statistical terms defined in the Stat Nuggets in your response.

_________

• Read our introductory post, which includes information about using the “Notice and Wonder” teaching strategy.
• Learn about how and why other teachers are using this feature, and use the 2018-19 “What’s Going On in This Graph?” calendar to plan ahead for the 25 Wednesday releases.
• Go to the A.S.A. K-12 website, which includes This is Statistics, resources, professional development, student competitions, curriculum, courses and careers.

Rescue Pets

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Rescue Pets

Do you know anyone who has a pet acquired from an animal rescue organization, like the Humane Society? What is this pet like? How has having it impacted the lives of those this animal lives with?

Tell us in the comments, then read a related Opinion essay about “The Blessing of a Rescue Dog.”

Find many more ways to use our Picture Prompt feature in this lesson plan.

Word + Quiz: upstage

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Word + Quiz: <strong></strong>upstage

Note: Our Sixth Annual 15-Second Vocabulary Video Challenge is underway. It will run until Feb. 18.

adverb: at or toward the rear of the stage

verb: steal the show, draw attention to oneself away from someone else

verb: move upstage, forcing the other actors to turn away from the audience

verb: treat snobbishly, put in one’s place

noun: the rear part of the stage

adjective: of the back half of a stage

adjective: remote in manner

_________

The word upstage has appeared in 100 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Oct. 11 in “‘The Haunting of Hill House,’ on Netflix, Is a Family Drama With Scares” by Jason Zinoman:

Shirley Jackson was a writer who understood that good scares come to those who wait, but she also knew how to get to the point.

Her classic 1959 novella “The Haunting of Hill House” begins with the greatest opening paragraph in the history of horror, describing the doomed mansion from the title, curiously, as insane, before ending with this ominous phrase: “whatever walked there, walked alone.”

…. Jan De Bont’s 1999 remake, also titled “The Haunting,” indulged in computer-generated effects, which partly accounts for its critically reviled reputation. But the movie makes a credible argument for the scariest element of Jackson’s story: Hill House itself. De Bont painstakingly lingers on its creepy statues, iron gates and precarious spiral staircase, and the ornate and wonderfully eccentric design upstages the actors in almost every scene.

Game design: Craft a world of your own

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Game design: Craft a world of your own

Video games have been around for decades – from arcade games, to Atari 2600, to the 2D classics on CD-ROM. Fast forward to 2019, and the gaming industry has come an impressively long way. With technological advances into highly-detailed 3D, people of all walks of life are becoming self-professed ‘gamers’.

It only takes a quick browse on Youtube to get a sense of how prolific gaming has become – some of the highest paid YouTubers make their money (sometimes in the millions) creating game demonstration videos, to help players learn new skills, and feel included in a community of people who share a mutual passion.

So if you’ve got the drive to succeed as a designer of games and animation, what better time than now to get into the industry?

A multidimensional role

As the gaming sector continues to grow globally, graduates whose skills include visual arts, film, technology, gaming and animation are in high demand across a multitude of industries – such as architecture, building, real estate, medicine, mining, aviation, and defence sectors. “In America alone, Unity Developer is now the 7th most listed job on LinkedIn,” says Jack Gillespie, Director of Digital Reality and Emerging Technology at Deloitte Australia.

Corporates have cottoned on to the benefits of using augmented or virtual reality to help stakeholders understand what it is they’re doing and why. “Not only does game design make complex information easy to understand and fun, it allows corporates to use the same tools to build, visualise and market their products and services,” says Jack. This means you are able to combine your skills in project management, technical expertise and creative storytelling, all in one dream role.

The power of visual storytelling

One of the hardest parts of the job is helping businesses understand how new ideas and technology can solve problems. “People aren’t convinced by data and numbers, people are convinced by stories,” says Jack. “So being able to craft an experience or explain the narrative purpose of what you’re doing does add a lot of value.”

Content being created is no longer just for gamers either. From art installations, to brand activations, to mobile apps – everyone needs to be able to participate. “It’s critical that content is designed with the same sort of accessibility standards as websites or any other mass communication tool,” says Jack. “This means graduates need to understand the different standards and needs of their end user.”

A game and animation degree that teaches both theory, and the fundamentals of narrative construction, is the perfect way to step into the industry, well-equipped. “We prefer to hire people with Unity 3D experience,” says Jack.

The future of gaming

As gaming and animation become just another way to communicate with stakeholders, much like social media has, game design teams will play a central role in corporate communications. “I work with consulting services including strategy and operations, user experience and user design specialists, web developers, and marketing teams on a daily basis,” says Jack. So soft skills in leadership, cross-cultural communication and self-confidence is a must.

It’s also worth noting that the game industry in The Asia-Pacific region is about to explode and they are looking for talent from Australia. “If you want to improve your chances of being employed globally, understanding cultural differences is important,” says Jack. “And being able to work with region-based organisations would be a bonus for any graduate.”

Are you ready to take the controls?

Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself before you make a decision:

  • Do you enjoy the act of creation? Or do you prefer consuming, analysing and critiquing? Building games are different to playing them.
  • Do you get a kick out of creating your own games and solving real-world problems in your work?
  • Do you love working with people of different backgrounds, cultures and nationalities?
  • Are you passionate about using both your technical and professional skill sets in your dream career?

 

If your dream is to work in an exciting fast-evolving industry, perhaps as an animator, 3D artist, motion graphics designer, visual effects artist or educator, then studying a Bachelor of Arts (Animation and Game Design) provided by Curtin University, online through Open Universities Australia (OUA), will give you the skills, knowledge and global industry connections you need to get you on track.

Top tips for learning at work

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Top tips for learning at work

In a world that is always changing, ongoing learning is no longer an option – it’s a necessity. Or as Joyce Russell, a career coach, put it: “learning is not just a nice thing to do – it is essential for staying on top of things” (Washington Post).

Keeping up your learning can help you stay ahead of change caused by globalisation or automation. It can also set you above other candidates when it comes to career changes, promotions or applications for further study, and it can even be good for your long-term health (Harvard Business Review).

So how exactly do you set about learning during work hours?

Explain to your manager what and why you’re learning

By explaining to your manager, or colleagues, what and why you’re learning, you can resolve feeling guilty about taking time to learn. Try to explain why this learning is important for you and how it might benefit your organisation. For more help on this, check out our other post How to convince your boss you should take a FutureLearn course during work.

Put aside the time and be strict about protecting it

During a busy work day it can be really difficult to set aside time to learn. You might feel guilty as if you’re not doing ‘proper’ work or you might feel like learning isn’t a priority. But set aside your guilt and try to be strict – block out time in your calendar, say no to that unnecessary meeting, set your phone to silent and close your inbox. In the long run your employer (and career) will thank you.

Try to find a subject that’s good for work, and good for you

You’re far more likely to stick to your learning if you find the subject interesting. Dedicate some time finding a topic that captures your attention as well as being helpful for your career or personal development. 

Set yourself a goal

Many of us don’t pursue learning for the sake of it – we’re usually learning to achieve something specific like a promotion or career change. While goals like these are helpful, they can often seem quite distant and intangible. So try setting yourself a smaller, more concrete goal. It might be time-related, eg ‘I want to spend 3 hours learning this week’, or subject-related, eg ‘I want to understand the basics of big data analytics’. Achieving these smaller goals will help you feel satisfied with your progress as you work towards something bigger.

Make yourself accountable

If you’re worried you’re still not going to stick to your learning, try to find someone to hold you to account. A friend or colleague can check keep checking in with you to help you keep going. Alternatively, if you’re feeling really brave, you could try agreeing a forfeit if you fail to complete any learning. How does making the team tea for a month sound?

Share what you’ve learnt

Finally, one of the most important things in creating a learning culture: sharing. If we want to try to encourage as many people as possible to learn at work, then we need to talk about learning more. Try doing a presentation to your peers about what you’ve learnt, or share your own advice for keeping up your learning.

Have you got tips for learning at work? Let us know in the comments.

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