Self-regulated learning: Are learners effective and efficient, and how can they be more so?

1. Self-regulated learning: Are learners effective and efficient, and how can they be more so? Non-Majors Biology Leadership ConferenceSeptember 29th, 2012, Seattle, WA Veronica Yan, M.A. University of California, Los Angeles veronicayan@ucla.edu

2. Self-regulated learning • An especially relevant topic for college students • Increasingly important in this technological age • And, important across the lifespan, not just college students

3. What leads to effective and efficient self-regulated learning? • Accurate monitoring of one’s current state of knowledge (monitoring) • Learned information: Should be able to judge that they can terminate study • Not yet learned information: Should be able to understand they need to continue studying it • Use of effective learning strategies (control) • Quantity of study hours is not sufficient • How that time is spent is critical  Accurate metacognition

4. Meta-level Control Monitor

5. Adapted from Nelson and Naren’s (1990) framework for metamemory. From Bjork, Dunlosky, Kornell (in press).

6. How do we explore issues of metacognition? • Ask them • Surveys and questionnaires about study behaviors and theories about learning • In the lab: during and after learning experiences • Observe study decisions • Planning study schedule, what to study next, self-pacing • Mostly in the lab

7. Outline • What do learners need to know, and do they know it? • Basics of memory • Focus: a) Testing, and b) Spacing • Why don’t they know it already? • Current performance vs. long-term retention • Theory-based vs. experience-based cues • Theories might be inaccurate or not activated • Subjective experiences may be misleading • Implications for learners and instructors

8. Outline • What do learners need to know, and do they know it? • Basics of memory • Focus: a) Testing, and b) Spacing • Why don’t they know it already? • Current performance vs. long-term retention • Theory-based vs. experience-based cues • Theories might be inaccurate or not activated • Subjective experiences may be misleading • Implications for learners and instructors

9. Understanding memory • Information is not stored like a literal video tape • New information is related to old information; we have to be an active participant during the learning process • Memories are not retrieved by hitting a ‘playback’ button • Retrieval involves a reconstructive process (Bartlett, 1932) • Retrieval is cue dependent: Accessibility depends on current cues • Retrieval itself has consequences for our memories • Retrieval is a ‘memory modifier’ (Bjork, 1994)

10. So what leads to long-term learning? • Students must put in study time  No study, no learning

11. Benefits of studying ….In the late 1980’s, the population of sea otters in the North Pacific Ocean began to decline. Of the two plausible explanations for the decline—increased predation by killer whales or disease—disease is the more likely. After all, a concurrent sharp decline in the populations of seals and sea lions was almost certainly caused by a pollution related disease, which could have spread to sea otters, whereas the population of killer whales did not change noticeably…. Prose passages (“The Sun” or “Sea Otters”; 256 and 275 words long) from a reading comprehension section of a test-prep book for the TOEFL Within the text were 30 idea units that were used for the basis of scoring Roediger & Karpicke(2006)

12. Benefits of studying 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins … 1 week Study Study Study Study Final Test Read entire passage 14.2 times 5 mins … 1 week Study Test Test Test Final Test Read entire passage 3.4 times * No feedback given after tests Roediger & Karpicke(2006)

13. Results • 5 mins: Those that studied more, remembered more --- Roediger & Karpicke(2006)

14. Benefits of studying? 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins … 1 week Study Study Study Study Final Test Read entire passage 14.2 times 5 mins … 1 week Study Test Test Test Final Test Read entire passage 3.4 times * No feedback given during tests * No feedback given after tests Roediger & Karpicke(2006)

15. Benefits of studying? testing 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins 5 mins … 1 week Study Study Study Study Final Test Read entire passage 14.2 times 5 mins … 1 week Study Test Test Test Final Test Read entire passage 3.4 times * No feedback given during tests * No feedback given after tests Roediger & Karpicke(2006)

16. Results • 5 mins: Those that studied more, remembered more • 1 week: Those that were tested retained the information they learned; those that simply read and reread did not Roediger & Karpicke(2006)

17. Understanding memory • Information is not stored like a literal video tape • New information is related to old information; we have to be an active participant during the learning process • Memories are not retrieved by hitting a ‘playback’ button • Retrieval involves a reconstructive process (Bartlett, 1932) • Retrieval is cue dependent • Retrieval itself has consequences for our memories • Retrieval is a ‘memory modifier’ (Bjork, 1994), a potent learning event that strengthens what we retrieve

18. Do learners understand the benefits of testing?

19. Benefits of studying testing Rate: How much will you remember in one week’s time? Roediger & Karpicke(2006)

20. Do learners understand the benefits of testing? • Survey evidence : If you quiz yourself while you study (either using a quiz at the end of a chapter, or a practice quiz, or flashcards, or something else), why do you do so? • I learn more that way than I would through rereading • To figure out how well I have learned the information I’m studying • I find quizzing more enjoyable than reading • I usually do not quiz myself Kornell & Bjork (2007), survey of 472 undergraduates

21. Do learners understand the benefits of testing? • Survey evidence : If you quiz yourself while you study (either using a quiz at the end of a chapter, or a practice quiz, or flashcards, or something else), why do you do so? • I learn more that way than I would through rereading • To figure out how well I have learned the information I’m studying • I find quizzing more enjoyable than reading • I usually do not quiz myself 18% 68% 4% 9% Kornell & Bjork (2007), survey of 472 undergraduates

22. Do learners understand the benefits of testing? Which of the following statements do you agree with most: Quizzes are… • …not useful for anything except to tell me what I do and do not know.[check only] • …useful because I learn more for those questions that I answered incorrectly. [wrong only] • …useful because I learn more for both questions that I answer correctly and incorrectly. [all] • …good only if I get the answers correct. [correct] Also asked people about their theory of intelligence (Dweck, 1999): • Fixed: Intelligence is innate, and cannot change • Growth: Intelligence can be increased with effort Yan, Thai & Bjork (in prep)

23. Do learners understand the benefits of testing? Yan, Thai & Bjork (in prep)

24. What about errors? • What is retrieved becomes strengthened • Good, if people get answers correct • Bad, if people get answers wrong • Consequences of making errors: • The wrong answer becomes strengthened • Errors persist • And, having now generated an error, this can compete, or interfere, with the correct answer

25. What about errors? “Errorless Learning” “The two primary reasons for using this approach in education are 1) the students don’t repeatedly make errors, therefore they don’t establish an “error history” that is later difficult to break; and 2) minimizing errors reduces emotional and aggressive behavior that can occur following errors, or avoidance of the work altogether. ” – From a blogpost by Karen Mahon, instructional designer, Ed.d. in Educational Psychology

26. What about errors? 8 secs 5 secs Whale: _______ Whale: Mammal Final Test Whale: ??? Test first 13 secs Whale: Mammal Final Test Whale: ??? Read- only * Chance of correct guesses during pre-test: 3% Kornell, Hays & Bjork (2009)

27. What about errors? Kornell, Hays & Bjork (2009)

28. Why? How can… 1) taking time out of one’s study and, 2) creating interference, …lead to better learning of the correct answer? Semantic activation hypothesis: • Generating a guess activates a semantic network • Which leads to more elaborate encoding of the correct answer when it is given

29. What do people think about errors? Huelser & Metcalfe (2012)

30. What do people think about errors? • Even after the final test, (in which they do better on the tested pairs), learners still think that studying is better than testing. Huelser & Metcalfe (2012)

31. Does this work in the classroom? Kapur & Bielaczyc (2012) • 7th grade mathematics classes from 3 Singapore public schools, a range of mathematics ability • Experimental Group: “Productive Failure” (PF): • 6 periods of generating errors with no instruction from the teacher • 1 period of actual instruction by the teacher • Control Group: “Directed Instruction” (DI): • 7 periods of cycling through lectures, practice, homeworkand feedback

32. Does this work in the classroom? Kapur& Bielaczyc (2012) • 7th grade mathematics classes from 3 Singapore public schools, a range of mathematics ability • Experimental Group: “Productive Failure” (PF): • 6 periods of generating errors with no instruction from the teacher • 1 period of actual instruction by the teacher • Control Group: “Directed Instruction” (DI): • 7 periods of cycling through lectures, practice, homeworkand feedback 0%, 7% and 16% 91%, 93% and 92%

33. Does this work in the classroom? Kapur & Bielaczyc (2012) • Post-test: 3 well-structured problems, one complex problem, one graphical representation item * *

34. What about errors? “Errorless Learning” “The two primary reasons for using this approach in education are 1) the students don’t repeatedly make errors, therefore they don’t establish an “error history” that is later difficult to break; and 2) minimizing errors reduces emotional and aggressive behavior that can occur following errors, or avoidance of the work altogether. ” – From a blogpost by Karen Mahon, instructional designer, Ed.d. in Educational Psychology

35. Summary: Testing Effect • Testing is good, not just for assessment, but: • As a learning tool • Testing involves retrieval, and retrieval itself is a powerful memory modifier • Even when errors are generatedor pre-instruction • As long as corrective feedback is provided • Enables more elaborative encoding of correct answers; makes connection with pre-existing knowledge

36. So what leads to long-term learning? • Students must put in study time  No study, no learning • Learning is not just about study time, but also • what you do in that study time, ande.g., active engagement, elaboration, reorganization, retrieval/testing • how you schedule that study timee.g., repetition can be more or less effective depending on distribution of practice

37. To space or to mass practice? • Restudying information: Study Study Study Test Test Study Study Study Immediate test

38. To space or to mass practice? • Restudying information: Study Study Study Test … Test Study Study Study … Immediate test Delayed test

39. Why is spacing good for LTM • When people want to learn some information, they study it repeatedly • How these repetitions are scheduled can make a big difference: • Spacing out repetitions leads to forgetting in between presentations • Because forgetting has occurred, retrieval now occurs during subsequent presentations – this retrieval strengthens the learning of the information

40. To space or to mass practice? • The spacing effect is one of the most robust findings in cognitive psychology • Words, facts • Across seconds, to months and years • But learners often do not realize this • Item-by-item predictions of future recall (Zechmeister & Shaughnessy, 1980) • Massed study makes items feel more fluent • Questionnaires

41. To space or to mass practice? Survey: Imagine that in the course of studying, you become convinced you know the answer to a certain question. What would you do? • Make sure to study it (or test yourself on it) again later • Put it aside and focus on other material 36% 64% Kornell& Bjork (2007)

42. Spacing works for repetitions; but what about generalization? • Spacing is great for strengthening information that you’ve studied before • What is taught in the classroom, especially in the sciences, is more complex concepts • Not just a memorization of facts, but students must learn more general principles and a conglomerate of related concepts

43. Inductive learning • Ability to generalize concepts and categories from exposure to multiple exemplars, and apply to new exemplars • A natural option then is to teach one concept at a time, immerse students in one lesson so that they can understand it more fully.

44. Gentoo

45. Where’s the Gentoo?

46. Hypothesis • Blocking/massing allows the learner to notice characteristics that unify a category • Interleaving/spacing makes doing so difficult Gentoo Gentoo Gentoo Gentoo Gentoo Lachesis Reinhard Gentoo

47. “Spacing is the friend of recall but the enemy of induction.” -Ernst Rothkopf

48. Kornell & Bjork (2008): Artists You will be shown 72 paintings for 3 seconds each. The paintings will be by twelve artists, with six pictures per artist. Try to learn to recognize which artist painted which picture based on their style. Later, you’ll be shown 48 new paintings, which you haven’t seen before. You’ll have to identify who painted each one.

49. Blocked

50. Lewis