Successive relearning improves performance on a high‐stakes exam in a difficult biopsychology course

Abstract

Summary Successive relearning combines two effective learning techniques (retrieval practice and spaced practice) and involves practicing retrieval until some level of mastery has been reached (i.e., at least one correct retrieval attempt) in each of multiple sessions. Several laboratory studies have demonstrated the promise of successive relearning for enhancing student learning, but attempts to evaluate its effectiveness in authentic educational contexts are limited. In the current research, we implemented successive relearning in a difficult biopsychology course to examine its effectiveness at enhancing student learning on a high‐stakes exam. Students successively relearned some course content via a virtual flashcard program, whereas other course content was learned with business‐as‐usual activities. In two experiments, successive relearning boosted students' learning of course content by at least 10% (with ds ranging from 0.54 to 1.10). These findings suggest that implementing successive relearning in courses can be an effective method of promoting student achievement.

The power of successive relearning and how to implement it with fidelity using pencil and paper and web-based programs.

“…If exams occur every four weeks, then a student would likely have just enough time for three (maybe four) spaced relearning sessions for any given set of material between each exam. In the investigation by Janes et al (2019) described above, this constraint was handled by cascading new materials into the SR routine as the concepts were introduced in class. One possibility is to assign the most important concepts from each class to be successively relearned in the time remaining before the next exam.…”

“…The efficacy of SR has been demonstrated in laboratory settings using foreign-language vocabulary (e.g., chateau–castle; Bahrick, 1979; Bahrick, Bahrick, Bahrick, & Bahrick, 1993; Rawson et al, 2018; Vaughn, Dunlosky, & Rawson, 2016) and key-term definitions (e.g., Rawson & Dunlosky, 2011, 2013). Even more critical, its efficacy has also been tested in authentic classrooms, including an introductory psychology course (Rawson, Dunlosky, & Sciartelli, 2013) and a biopsychology course (Janes, Dunlosky, Rawson, & Jasnow, 2019). For the former, performance on a high-stakes exam was over 10% better on questions that tapped definitions learned by SR than by business as usual.…”

“…Performance was higher for the SR group than for this spaced restudy group, indicating that an active ingredient for SR is retrieval practice . For the investigation of SR in biopsychology (Janes et al, 2019), college students used SR to study some content and studied other content in any way they wanted, so the manipulation was within each student, comparing learning via SR versus business as usual. Students successively relearned key-term definitions, but they also used SR to learn (a) the names of neural and brain structures and (b) the steps (and their sequence) of processes (e.g., This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

Successive Relearning: An Underexplored but Potent Technique for Obtaining and Maintaining Knowledge

“…Since this first evaluation of SR in a classroom setting, it was shown to improve students’ performance on an in-class exam in biopsychology (Janes et al, 2020) and their retention of key terms in another introductory psychology course (Higham et al, 2021). In the latter case, students’ use of SR across a semester also decreased their reported anxiety about using it (as compared with restudying the key terms, i.e., using their usual study methods) and led them to realize that SR was a more effective approach to learning than is restudying (Higham et al, 2021).…”

The benefits of successive relearning on multiple learning outcomes.

“…A small evidence base suggests that successive relearning produces excellent and durable memory for learned material—more than either single-session testing or spaced practice on its own (e.g., Bahrick, 1979; Bahrick et al, 1993; Bahrick & Hall, 2005; Janes et al, 2020; Rawson & Dunlosky, 2011, 2012, 2013; Rawson et al, 2013; Vaughn et al, 2016). For example, Rawson et al (2018) found that participants recalled 20% of learned information one week after a single learning session.…”