Developing a Drawing Task to Differentiate Group Average Time Course vs. Dynamics in the Individual

Self Cite

Learning and forgetting curves are not only integral issues for courses in introductory psychology, they are also of high practical relevance to students when it comes to the formation of realistic goals and expectations on learning outcomes. A paper-and-pencil-study investigated how well students of psychology (N ¼ 82) have internalized the concepts of learning and forgetting curves. We developed a vignette-based assessment technique: drawing a hypothetical learning or forgetting curve in an empty coordinate system with time on the x-axis and performance on the y-axis, the starting point and endpoint being fixed. In spite of the free production format answers were quantified in a way that would allow for automated feedback in online teaching tools. For instance, learning which decelerates over time implies a curve above the diagonal while decelerated forgetting implies a curve below the diagonal. Deviating from this optimal solution, about 60% of the drawn learning and forgetting curves were classified as being close to the diagonal axis. Analyses on the individual level also documented poor consistency of knowledge. Students drawing a deceleration in learning were not more likely to also draw a deceleration in forgetting. Implications for future learning aids, for example, online feedback systems are discussed.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ]''mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Declaration Of Conflicting Interestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Learning Curves As An Integral Issue In Introductory Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Assessing Students’ Knowledge about Learning and Forgetting Curves with a Free Production Technique: Measures and Implications for the Development of Learning Aids

Blech

Gaschler²

2018

Self Cite

Developing a Drawing Task to Differentiate Group Average Time Course vs. Dynamics in the Individual

Blech

Gaschler

2017

Teaching and theorizing in psychology has long been torn between targeting general underlying principles by observing dynamics in the individual or focusing on average behavior. As dealing with group averages is common practice in psychology, it is important for students to understand how individual learning curves relate to group average curves. In two experiments, we explore whether posing questions about the individual time course of learning can help psychology students to generate valid representations of the average time course of learning. Attempting to foster learning as a generative process, we provided students in Experiment 1 (N ¼ 83) with vignettes asking them to draw hypothetical learning curves of individuals vs. averages over individuals (order of vignettes varied as experimental manipulation) into an empty coordinate system (time on the x-axis, performance on the y-axis; fixed start and endpoints). However, students who worked on the individual-time-course vignette first did not draw better average curves than those undertaking the reverse order of tasks. Experiment 2 (N ¼ 36) found tentative evidence that providing students with a metaphor (falling leaves) can guide attention towards the variability of individual time courses.

Creating a Dot-Counting Single-Subject Design Tutorial

Ng,

Chao,

Chan

2024

Single-subjects design has the advantage of providing detailed, individualized analyses of intervention. However, creating a tutorial for single-subject design (SSD) is challenging, and an effective version for online delivery is currently unavailable. Here, we developed an experiential SSD tutorial designed for online delivery and evaluated its pedagogical effectiveness. Fifty-nine undergraduate students participated by completing a three-item online questionnaire, and their free-text responses were analyzed using summative content analysis. The quantitative results indicated that most students found the tutorial highly beneficial. Qualitative findings revealed four key learning points: the SSD design process, types of intervention, the concept of SSD, and behavioral changes. Additionally, two main features—experiential learning and the ability to interpret personal data—facilitated student engagement. We also explore ways to further enhance the teaching of SSD, highlighting the tutorial as a versatile tool for online education that offers students a practical and realistic introduction to single-subject designs.