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How We Learn and How Instructional Technology Can Help

Kathie Galotti, Don Vosburg, Wiebke Kuhn

LTC Lunch, January 31, 2023

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Your Ideas

Please go to

Menti.com

Code: 2318 5433

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Four Relevant Phenomena from Cognitive Psychology�

Encoding Specificity
The Spacing Effect
The Testing Effect
Levels of Processing

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Practices that help with Learning

Retrieval - is the act of trying to recall information without having it in front of you.
Spaced study - is the process of distributing multiple study sessions over a period of time to improve long-term retention.
Interlacing/Interleaving - is mixing related but distinct material during study.
Predicting & Pre-testing - alters how you subsequently tune into the course and/or class itself during the rest of the term.
Managing distraction and interruption (Incubation) - putting aside a problem, deliberately not thinking about work.

How we learn - The surprising truth about when, where, and why it happens. By Bendict Carey

Note: some evidence (Bjork 1994, 1999) that students may not feel as confident in spaced learning (and interleaving cited as being “harder”) - it's harder (on purpose) - need to educate students as well (hitting first gen, minoritized students harder)

How we learn - The surprising truth about when, where, and why it happens. By Bendict Carey

Retrieval practice: more effective than re-reading and highlighting. More beneficial when retrieved in different formats, when students go back to check class materials for accuracy after they engage in retrieving, and when they do not just try to recall words and definitions but core concepts and ideas. Helps with identifying what you do and do not know. (avoid false fluency)

Spaced Repetition learning a new concept, skill or idea, learners should give their mind time to start forgetting so that the brain struggles to retrieve the info.

skills of categorization and problem solving; interleaving also leads to better long-term retention and improved ability to transfer learned knowledge. Forces the brain to continually retrieve

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Retrieval

Quizzes

Moodle or Student Response Systems
or game-based quizzing applications such as Kahoot!

Think-pair-share (*elaboration)

Google Docs
Jamboard
Digital Language Lab

Other Individual Retrieval

Individual Moodle Forum�For Brain Dump or �Last Lesson, Last Week, �Last Month

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Spaced study (repetition)

Moodle (Quizzes)
Panopto
Third party

Kahoot!
Anki
Memrise
Quizlet

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Interlacing/Interleaving

Moodle (Question Banks)
Student Response Systems

Student-paced activity

Third-Party

Quizizz (Jumble feature)
Brainscape

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Predicting & Pre-testing

Student Response Systems

Moodle Quizzing

Hypothes.is

Jamboard

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Managing disruption and interruption (Incubation)

Timers

Pomodoro method (juicytimer.com)

Turn off notifications for a set amount of time

Purposefully change focus (exercise, different topic, check messages)

Feeling stuck? Talk to someone or try out Chat GPT.

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Using Technology for these Practices

Why use technology?

Once set up, can be reused for both live and student-paced activities
Can provide multiple means of input and output
Can be used in remote situations
Anxiety filter with or without responses being *anonymous

Additional Resources

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Student Choices and Student Differences

Ally

Ally helps us to integrate Universal Design for Learning principles by providing choice, flexibility, and usability.

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Academic Technology can help