Implementing Learning Techniques that Work:
Measuring and Sharing Practices to Improve Student Learning
Capt Bradley DeWees (DFPS), Dr. Lauren Scharff (DFEI), Capt Chase Lane (DFM),
C1C Leslie Perez (DFBL), Dr. Amy Munson (DFEI)
Research Goal
To bridge the gap between what is known about the science of learning and what students actually do to learn
Background
Utilized Dunlosky & Rawson (2015) meta-analysis to support low-, moderate-, and high-efficacy learning strategy framework
Research Questions
Learning
Strategy
Utility
Description
1. Summarization
Low
Copying portions of texts to create summaries
How do students and faculty differ with
respect to their implementation of
evidence-based learning strategies?
2. Highlighting
What is the impact of
• Level of Personalization
• Who Disseminates
on student & faculty awareness and
implementation of learning strategies?
5. Rereading
What is the impact of
Personalization?
Mass communications (email): leads to
greater awareness than
medium/individual communications
Medium/Highly personalized
communications (workshop): greater
implementation of effective learning
strategies
---------------------------------------------------Student efforts were led by other
students in order to maximize benefits of
in-group dissemination.
3. Keyword
mnemonic
4. Imagery for
text
6. Elaboration
7. Selfexplanation
8. Interleaved
practice
9. Practice
testing
10. Spaced
practice
11. Successive
Relearning
Fig. 1: Student v. Faculty Awareness
All Students (1444 Students)
100%
All Faculty (73 Instructors)
Medium
Low
Our locally-created, online survey
assessment tool measured awareness,
implementation, and source for the 11
targeted learning strategies.
60%
Strategy Takeaways
•Awareness of low-efficacy strategies is
pervasive for both students and faculty (Fig.
1).
•Faculty tend to implement high-efficacy
strategies more than students, but there is
room for both to improve (Fig. 2).
•We should focus future efforts on
awareness and implementation for highefficacy strategies.
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Fig. 2: Student v. Faculty Implementation
All Students
All Faculty
Percent Implementation of Aware
100%
Medium
Low
90%
High
80%
70%
60%
50%
Significance
**
* p< 0.5
** p< 0.1
40%
30%
**
**
*
*
*
20%
10%
0%
Seminar & Dissemination Takeaways
•More personalized dissemination seems to
better promote implementation (Fig 3).
•Institutions would likely benefit from a
transparent Science of Learning component,
ideally as soon as possible for the students
(e.g. first-year experience).
Next Steps
Learning Strategy
Fig. 3: Personalization Comparison (Students)
Email
Implentation
9
Successive Relearning
1.Indicate if you have heard of this learning
technique? (each type was defined)
2.Who/what influenced your awareness?
3.How often do you use this learning
technique?
4.Who/what inspired you to use this learning
strategy?
Why don’t we introduce this earlier? I shouldn’t be
hearing about this as a senior for the first time. We
should work on introducing this to the freshman.
This is awesome information to have and would
have saved me so much time earlier in my
academic career.
-Senior, Spring 2016
70%
Learning Strategy
For students, workshops were led by trained
student instructors (academic officers) were
held multiple times each mid-semester.
Students on academic probation were
required to attend but all other students
were invited.
Between all the helpful hints and strategies, to just
the occasional encouraging mass email, it was
awesome! I went from a 2.07 my first semester
here to getting on the Dean’s List this semester
for the first time. Thanks again!
-Junior, Fall 2015
Study Takeaways & Conclusion
80%
Methods & Materials
For both students and faculty, we
disseminated the learning strategies via
mass emails, small group (squadron or
department) briefings, and hour-long
workshops. These occurred each semester.
You helped me get off academic probation and for
that I thank you. I truly believe we can all succeed
if we just look for help when we are struggling.
Keep doing what you are doing because it is
making a difference.
-Sophomore, Spring 2016
High
90%
Percent Awareness
Hypotheses
Marking (potentially important) portions of tobe-learned materials while reading
Using keywords and mental imagery to
Low
associate verbal materials
Attempting to form mental images of text
Low
materials while reading and listening
Restudying text material again after an initial
Low
reading
Generating an explanation for why an
Moderate
explicitly stated fact or concept is true
Explaining how new information is related to
Moderate known information or explain steps taken
during problem solving
A schedule of practice that mixes different
Moderate kinds of problem (or study of different kinds of
material) within a single study session
Self-testing or taking practice tests over to-beHigh
learned material
A schedule of practice that spreads out study
High
activities over time
Self-testing until you can correctly recall the
High
target information and doing so in more than
one practice session
Low
Ad Hoc Evidence of Success
11%
83
15
Spaced Practice
13%
116
69
Practice Testing
Science of Learning
Workshop
Awareness
0
20
40
60
162
80
100
Implentation
20
Successive Relearning
120
140
98
54
20
40
60
References
25%
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K., (2015). “Practice Tests, Spaced
Practice, and Successive Relearning: Tips for Classroom
Use and for Guiding Students’ Learning.” Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 1(1), 72-78.
22%
Acknowledgements
40%
Special thanks to C1C Alyssa Sedgewick for unrelenting
data processing and analysis.
180
79
Practice Testing
0
160
43%
Awareness
22
Spaced Practice
Continue interventions with both faculty and
students. Add additional evidence-based
practices (e.g. metacognition and Bloom’s
Taxonomy).
134
80
100
120
140
160