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

Abstract

Successive relearning (SR) is a promising strategy to improve student achievement that combines 2 effective learning techniques-retrieval practice and spaced practice. Our aim in this article is to help instructors and students effectively use SR. We begin by briefly discussing current evidence for its efficacy, and then we describe the steps for implementing it with fidelity and details on how it can be implemented using penciland-paper materials. We also assessed the degree to which some flashcard programs instantiate the attributes to support SR. Many of these programs can be adapted to implement SR for mastering the kinds of content that are often foundational for introductory courses in psychology, including simple associations, key-term definitions, labels for objects (e.g., names of brain structures), and the steps in processes. Accordingly, this Teacher-Ready Research Review provides instructors and students with recommendations on and tools for how to harness the power of successive relearning.

Can successive relearning enhance performance on application-based exam questions?

“…The successive relearning assignments were administered on a beta-version website built under the domain name of the authors’ university and cannot be used at other institutions. However, see Dunlosky and O’Brien (2022) for a review of how successive relearning can be implemented using other web-based programs (and nonweb versions).…”

A Practical Review of Mastery Learning

“…In successive relearning, students practice to-be-learned content until a designated level of mastery is achieved in each of multiple practice sessions (ideally three to four different study sessions). [32][33][34][35] That is, a student would reach a mastery threshold on Day 1 and then again must obtain that level on subsequent study days. This can be incorporated into the mastery learning model because of the frequency of assessments.…”

“…In the successive relearning model, students can test themselves on these key concepts and when correct, can remove them from their study session. 35 Then the next session, they retest the new and old concepts and again, when they correctly solve the problem or remember the key concept, they can drop it and repeat the cycle at some later time.…”

Teaching and Learning as Psychological Processes

“…As Engeness describes, much of this approach can be traced through Skinner's work in the 1950s. This approach would lead instructors to create something like flashcards and allow students to practice with feedback until they have reached mastery (Dunlosky & O'Brien, 2020).…”

“…For example, learning accomplished through multiple spaced practice sessions is often superior to learning in one massed practice or cramming session (see Dunlosky et al, 2013). Successive relearning, when a student returns to a body of material after some period away and reviews and relearns the material (Dunlosky & O'Brien, 2020), also creates a strong memory trace. Interleaving different tasks together creates robust learning as it requires the learner to not just respond in a rote way but rather to recognize the structure of each task and recall an appropriate response or approach (see Dunlosky et al, 2013).…”