Increasing Retention without Increasing Study Time
Humans are prone to forget. Pupils at schools and students at college and universities learn a lot of information. Unfortunately, the majority of them cannot remember it in a year or more. The researches Dough Rodher and Harold Pashler try to identify what factors influence humans’ retention and how to make it better and longer. Scientists identified that the common for contemporary educational system overlearning and rare repetition of the material are the main reasons of such dramatic statistics of forgetting. Shuffled formula of teaching and spacing of the learned material should be implemented in education practice to improve long-term retention, as they are much more effective than the currently used overlearning and mass learning methods, which demonstrate results only for the short-term knowledge.
Rohrer and Pashlers Discoveries
Dough Rodher and Harold Pashler (2007) are concerned by how quickly students forget the materials perfectly memorized for the exam. The researchers studied the correlation between the common for modern learners overlearning practice and long-term retention. They listed pros and cons of mass and space learning to help solve the problem. In conclusion of their study the scientists emphasize that contemporary educational practice is based on tradition and fads when it should consider empirical evidence more (Rohrer & Pashler, 2007, p. 186). The reason for such statement is proved by their research, which indicates that the common educational practice is useless for long-term retention, which is vital for true professionals. The researchers present an alternative to the existing teaching method, which involves shuffled and spaced format of the lectures.
Correlation between Retention and Overlearning
While learning a lot of students forget many things almost at once. Studies show dramatic results – 4 weeks after getting high test scores the retention decreases almost by half (Rohrer & Pashler, 2007, p. 185). In the end, 50 % of educated adults cannot remember where Sudan is located and cannot correctly multiply 5 by 7 (Rohrer & Pashler, 2007, p. 183). The reason for such tendency lies in overlearning. It is a process of continuation of study even when a student has achieved an error-free performance. Adequate students learn the material to the first error-free performance, when overleaners prefer to repeat the already learned information without breaks repeatedly. Especially often contemporary students use the overlearning method during last-minute cramming for an exam (Winerman, 2011). Errors can lower their grade, so, to be on the safe side, they repeat the material again and again. Such method is probably OK for doing well on an exam, but it is horrible for long-term retention (Winerman, 2011). Unfortunately, the knowledge gained in such a way is short-lived and demonstrates great retention decline even after a week.
Studying process is not about memory training. It is about gathering the information and gaining the skills to use it in the future. Art Markman (2012) underlines that people invest several years and thousands of dollars in a college education. Thus, retention, not high test scores, which give no further knowledge of the material, should be the goal. While overlearning is effective for tomorrows test or exam, it is useless for long-term retention. Lea Winerman (2011) writes that the more time students have before the next study session, the more efficiency they demonstrate. If repetition does not occur, the information becomes forgotten. Thus, constant repetition of the learned material is the key to long-term tension success, while overlearning benefits only for a short while.
Mass and Spaces Learning and Retention
Besides overlearning, mass learning considerably decreases long-term retention. Mass learning is a process of studying which is not separated with appropriate breaks or intersession intervals. Rohrer and Pashler (2007, p. 184) assert that performance is usually much better if the study time is spaced rather than massed. Winerman (2011) also supports this opinion and writes that spacing the studying session by students considerably improves long-term knowledge. Markman (2012) also adds that students should study over a period of days, not during the last day, to gain knowledge, which will help them to solve complex problems in their future profession. Consequently, spaced learning with repetitions positively influences the long-term retention.
Farley, Risko and Kingstone (2013) researched the correlation between attention, memory and fidgeting. The scientists established that with time attention to the lecture material declines, while fidgeting increases (Farley, Risko, & Kingstone, 2013). Fidgeting here is the same as faltering attention, which is caused by mind wandering. This state is common and sometimes useful for humans, but it plays a destructive role during lectures. Lea Winerman (2011) offers to interweave the subject with the lack of attention and fidgeting. This method is useful as it involves not only the learning, forgetting and relearning process, but also a deeper understanding of the information through finding similarities and differences (Winerman, 2011). Thus, it is much more effective to change the ways new information is presented and its topic as soon as fidgeting becomes obvious to raise attention and retention level.
New Teaching Approach
Considering the influence of overlearning and mass learning on long-term retention, Rohrer and Pashler (2007) proposed alternative strategies. They offer t