Thinking about...retrieval practice

Retrieval Practice - Pupils Need More Tests!

Generally, tests are considered for assessment purposes only. Teachers, in the main, have a negative perception of testing due to the significant increases in the number of tests that pupils now have to take during their school careers. However, they turn out to actually be one of the most effective tools for learning; quizzing and low stakes testing are crucial to optimise learning.

Testing has to be thought of as in a pedagogical sense. Testing, when used this way, engages learners in practicing recalling memories (information learnt). ‘The act of retrieving a memory changes the memory, making it easier to retrieve again later’. Repeated recall appears to help memory consolidate into cohesive representation in the brain to strengthen and multiply the neural routes by which the knowledge can later be retrieved. Research proves that practicing retrieval makes learning stick far better than re-exposure.

Retrieval practice is one of the most successful strategies for learning and the more effortful the retrieval the stronger the benefit. The greater the effort to retrieve learning, provided that there are high rates of success, the more learning is strengthened by retrieval. 

The following examples outlines some suggestions of how you might provide your pupils with opportunities to engage in retrieval practice.

Retrieval Practice Strategies for the Classroom

Regular low stakes quizzes - Possibly the easiest way to provide opportunities for regular retrieval practice is through low stakes quizzes/tests to your lesson that test knowledge that has previously been taught. Low stakes means that little emphasis is placed on the scores. Pupils’ results don’t have to be shared or recorded, it is the process of retrieving previously learnt information that is important.

Whole Class Quizzing - Create multiple choice quizzes that will engage pupils in retrieving information. You can use simple methods such as RAG pages or mini-white boards to ensure that pupils are individually accountable for answering question. This not only engages pupils in recalling learnt information but allows you to quickly assess their knowledge.

Interleaving Quiz - Regularly start a lesson with a low stakes quiz that allows pupils to revisit previously learnt information, using the following format:

1.   Question from previous lesson.

2.   Question from previous week.

3.   Question from previous topic.

4.   Question from previous term.

5.   Question requiring pupils to make a link between what they are currently learning and what they have previously learnt.

Quick Fire Questioning - This strategy simply involves asking a number of questions that require pupils to retrieve information. Consider how you make all pupils individually accountable for retrieving the memory. This could be achieve by providing pupils with some think time and insist on no hands up.

Writing to Learn - This task requires pupils to recall as much information as they can about a topic/lesson/term etc. Pupils are provided with a short period of time and asked to write as much as they can about a topic/lesson/term etc.

Homework - Forgetting is key to remembering and therefore spaced retrieval is an effective strategy.  The setting of homework is a great opportunity to encourage retrieval practice and to ensure it is spaced retrieval. Rather than set a homework relevant to the learning that has taken place during the lesson or that week why not provide pupils with a task that will require them to revisit previously taught content?

Self-explanation - Pupils are challenged to consider how new information can be linked to what they already know. In order to make links the pupils must engage in retrieval practice to recall all the previously learnt information.

Knowledge Organisers – There are a number of ways in which pupils use their Knowledge Organiser (KO) as a resource to help engage in retrieval practice.

·     Peer Quizzing - Using their KO, as a resource, pupils can quiz each other in pairs. One pupil can pose questions from the KO and check the pupils answers whilst the other is challenged to answer the questions. To help with this process encourage pupils to use Tip-Tip-Teach. If a pupil incorrectly answers a question their peer should give them a tip to help them recall the correct answer, followed by a second tip and then teach the correct answer if necessary.   

·     Cover – Write – Check - Correct - They cover the KO and aim to write down as much of its content that they can recall. Once pupils have recorded as much information as possible they check and correct their work. 

·     KO Starter Activity - Displaying one section of the KO with some information left off. Pupils are required to fill in the blanks, identify the key terms, complete a process or recall the precise definitions etc.

Cooperative Learning Strategies – There are a number of Cooperative Learning Structures that can be used to engage your pupils in retrieval practice. The main benefits of these are that all pupils are individually accountable for engaging in the activity and that half of the class are simultaneously answering a questions/recalling information at any one time.

·     Rally Robin & Pair Share – Basic structures. Pupils can recall information such as key words or speak about a topic.

·     Quiz – Quiz – Trade & Inside Outside Circle - Involves pupils pairing up and, in turns, answering and asking a question that requires pupils to recall information. Pupils can create their own questions or you could use exam questions and mark schemes.

·     Rally Coach - This cooperative learning structure involves partners taking turns; one solving a problem and the other coaching. This usually works best when the teacher has previously modelled a process for working out a problem e.g. Maths problem or answering a question with multiple steps.

Technology – There are number of ways in which you could use technology to help engage pupils in retrieval practice.

·     Classroom Apps - There are a number of apps and software that can be used to engage pupils in retrieval practice. Regularly used examples include Kahoot, Socrative and Google Forms. They allow you to create multiple choice quizzes to engage pupils in retrieval practice.

·     Flashcards Software - Here is a list of flashcard software that you can use to create your own flashcards for pupils to use (shared by @AceThatTest). These allow pupils to track their own progress, prevents them having to create their own and there are often a number of sets that have already be created that might be of use.

·     Subject Specific Software - There are a range of subject specific software which actively engages pupils in retrieval practice. These can be used as a high impact/low effort homework strategy that requires little workload. Some examples of subject specific software include; Linguascope/Memrise (MFL), Mangahigh (Maths), My PE Exam (PE) and Pearson ActiveLearn (various subjects).

Conditions for Effective Retrieval Practice

Success Rate - In order for the above strategies to be effective pupils must have a medium to high retrieval success.  If the tasks are too difficult pupils will not be able to recall any information.

Feedback - immediate feedback must be provided. Although the process is more important than the results it is still essential that pupils are provided with feedback to the non-recalled or incorrectly recalled information. Providing immediate feedback increases the likelihood that information will be stored to memory.

Space Out Retrieval Practice - It is important to leave a considerable amount of time between sessions of retrieval to take advantage of forgetting.

The misconception is that massed practice can lead to embedding something into long-term memory. Although this might lead to increased performance it is not conducive to learning. This is because when retrieval strength is high additional study has no effect on storage strength. When ideas have been forgotten the effort to recall them reconstructs the learning from long-term memory and makes the idea more memorable and connects it to other knowledge more recently learnt.

Educate Pupils on the Process - One of the most effective strategies for improving pupils’ ability to retain information is explicitly educating students about the research on effective learning strategies.  Teachers are encouraged to be transparent about the frustrations but the importance of the ‘testing effect’. Educating pupils on the benefits of regularly testing and self-quizzing is likely to improve their motivation for such tasks and will also help them develop their own effective learning habits.

Thinking about...what we can learn from John Wooden

 John Wooden led his basketball teams to ten national championships in twelve years and is regarded as one of the greatest sport coaches in History. However, it is not his success and achievements that make Wooden so popular, it is the way he lived his life. His integrity, class and humility have inspired people from all walks of life and I believe the that teachers, schools and the education system can learn a lot from him.  

The road is better than the end

After Wooden had retired he was asked if he missed it [coaching basketball]. He explained that he missed the practices and working with the young people under his supervision but that he did not miss the games and the tournaments. Wooden expressed that the importance is in the preparation and not the outcome. He felt that ensuring his players were prepared to perform at their potential would have a greater influence on the result than constantly stressing over the outcome. Does your school focus on the road or on the end?  In education, like basketball, an outcome is inevitable; we can’t avoid the examinations that our pupils will sit at the end of their five years of schooling. We can, however, focus more on how they might grown as an individual throughout their five-year journey. We can make sure that our young people are defined by their character and not by their exam results.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation

Wooden disregarded reputation because it was something that he had no control over. He felt that his teams couldn’t necessarily control if they win or lose but they could control how they played the game.  Wooden believed that success is what you consistently do and that you cannot be defined by a single moment, game or tournament. He would watch how his team played to determine if they were successful or not. Wooden would often say that ‘there were games when we scored more than the opposition but we had lost and vice versa’. In education, do we care how well young people play the game or are we only concerned with their results? Some schools become so focused on their reputation, on their results and on their Ofsted grading that they lose focus of what matters. The children!  

John Wooden was asked, after one outstanding season, if this was his best job and he replied that he wouldn’t know for twenty years. He explained that it is what your youngsters do after they have left your supervision that really determines whether or not you have done a good job. What good are a school’s results, or its reputation, if its pupils fail to make a positive contribution to and succeed within society?

Never mention winning

Ironically, those schools that become overly focused on winning (results and Ofsted grades) are more likely to fail (by their own standards). Wooden himself has experienced this. When discussing the 16 years prior to his first championship title he explained, ashamedly, that there were times when he wanted to win so much that he hurt his team’s chances by overworking his players or trying to give them too much. In education we are currently facing a workload crisis; a number of teachers are reportedly leaving the profession due to being over worked and over stressed. Perhaps, as Wooden suggested, we are hurting our chances of being successful as we are focused too much on winning. We are focused too much on what Ofsted want. If we want to succeed; take a step back, let teachers do their job and stop putting the emphasis on winning.

Real happiness and success comes from the things that cannot be taken away from you

Perhaps we need to revisit our moral purpose, the reason we got involved in the profession and what it actually means to be an educator. When reflecting on his life, Wooden stated, that true success can only be measured by the lasting things in life, those things that cannot be taken away.  He explained that he always tried to live his life by the motto: ‘you can’t have a perfect day without doing something for another without any thought of return’. How many perfect days have you had recently? In education are we fulfilling our moral purpose and allowing our pupils to fulfil their potential? Or are we teaching in return for good results or an Ofsted grade? John Wooden will not be remembered as being a winner but for being successful. It is not the ten national championships that gravitate people towards him but rather the influence and inspiration he had on his players and those who he worked with. Perhaps our education system can learn the difference between winning and success from John Wooden and focus a little more on character and less on reputation.  

Thinking about... the rules for learning

This post presents my previous four posts on the 'rules for learning' into one, easy to digest, table. 

The table includes a definition for learning. It sounds obvious but all teachers should really share a common definition of what learning actually is. 

The table outlines a summary of of how learning occurs. I, myself, did not know enough about how my pupils actually learn and I believe that this it true of the majority of my colleagues and the profession as a whole. 

The remainder of the table presents the rules of learning. Each of the eight rules clearly links back to the summary of how learning occurs, includes a brief explanation and outlines some strategies of what this might look like in the classroom.   

The Rules for Learning

For more detailed information on the above rules please read the four blogs below:

• Part One - An introduction to the rules of learning and a summary of how learning occurs. 
• Part Two - Rules one, two and three. 
• Part Three - Rules four, five and six. 
• Part Four - Rules seven and eight. 

Please consider that I do not claim to be an expert on cognitive research. I am simply documenting the discoveries of my journey (so far) in the hope that colleagues will join me in the attempt to becoming more aware of what really makes a difference to learning. Please get in touch and let me know your thoughts and/or direct me to what I am still yet to discover. 

Thinking about... what really makes a difference to learning (part four)

This blog is the fourth and final part in the series; 'what really makes a difference to learning'. Read part one here.

This series outlines the research I have conducted into learning. I have collated and summarised the research into eight easily digestable 'rules for learning'. This blog outlines the final two, rules 7 and 8.

Rule 7 - Pupils remember (learn) what they think about 

Pupils remember what they think about and therefore the best teachers ensure pupils spend time thinking about the meaning of what they are learning.

One way to ensure pupils spend time engaged in thinking about what they are learning is through elaboration. Elaboration involves pupils giving new material meaning by expressing it in their own words and connecting it with what they already know.

The more an individual can elaborate on how new learning relates to what they already know, the stronger the grasp on new learning will be, and a greater number of connections will be created to remember it later. Simply strategies that can be employed within the classroom include:

•  Making links to other previously leant material.
• Pupils explaining concepts in their own words. 
• Asking pupils to relate concepts to their life outside of the classroom
• A powerful form of elaboration is creating a metaphor or visual image. 

Generation is another effective strategy as it makes the mind more receptive to new learning. It is attempting to answer a question or solve a problem before being shown the answer or solution. The following are generation tasks: 

•  Reading and filling in the blanks (more effective than simply reading)
• Experimental learning/problem solving.
• Skim reading and followed by explaining the key ideas that you expect to find, why it is useful to read it and how it might link to prior learning.
• Homework – solve problems before getting to class. 

Reflection - Is a combination of elaboration and retrieval practice that adds layers and strengthens skills.

Taking the time to review what has been learnt through metacognitive questions and ‘writing to learn’. Following lessons or topics pupils might be required to ‘write to learn’ by generating their own written summaries of the key ideas they have learnt.  For example; restating concepts in their own words and elaborating on the subject by generating examples of them.

One final suggestion to ensure pupils think about what you want them to learn is to organise learning by creating a conflict around a conflict. In other words, the material we want pupils to know is the answer to a question and the question generates that conflict. Start with the material you want pupils to learn and work backwards to the intellectual question it poses. This can become a real aid to learning because if it is done successfully you are engaging pupils with the actual substance of the discipline. Simple, yet effective, strategies can be used to create a conflict:

• Replace learning objectives with a key question. 
• Planned questions.
• Dialogic questioning.

Rule 8 - The pupils don’t know when they are learning

Individuals are poor judges of when they are learning and when they are not. When learning is hard, slow and feels less productive pupils tend to resort to strategies that feel more beneficial, unaware that these are temporary.

Poor study techniques such as re-reading and highlighting text provides the illusions of mastery. Pupils read a text and because they can fluently follow it gives them the illusion that they know it. However, when put to the test they cannot recall the critical ideas or apply them in a new context.

Pupils prefer reading and highlighting because it feels more fluent and it ‘feels like learning’. However, the struggles experienced with trying to recall information is far more beneficial. It can, for pupils, feel frustrating but the effort actually increases your ability to recall in the future. Also, studying something after trying to recall it helps an individual learn it better than if they had not tried to recall it.

Having established what doesn’t work, pupils need to engage in more effective revision strategies that work well and make a difference to learning. These could include:

• Retrieval Practice - Pupils should engage in practice testing and regular low stake self-quizzing.
• Self-testing should be spaced out and interleaved with different topics.
• Why? Should become the main form of studying in place of re-reading. It arrests forgetting, improves storage strength and helps recall in the future (increases retrieval strength).
• Self-explanation – pupils should consider how new information can be linked to what they already know. This is where mind maps – might come in useful. The process of creating the mind map is probably more useful than the finished product itself.
• One of the most effective strategies for improving pupils’ ability to retain information is explicitly educating students about the research on effective learning strategies.  Educators are encouraged to be transparent about the frustrations but the importance of the ‘testing effect’ and the principle of ‘desirable difficulties’ whilst warning them of the ‘illusions of knowing’. 

Thinking about... what really makes a difference to learning (part three)

This blog is the third part in the series; 'what really makes a difference to learning'. Part one can be found here and part two here. 

This series outlines the research I have conducted into learning. I have collated and summarised the research into nine easily digestable 'rules for learning'. This blog outlines rules 4-6. 

Rule 4 – Pupils need more tests!

Generally, tests are considered for assessment purposes only. Teachers, in the main, have a negative perception of testing due to the significant increases in the number of tests that pupils now have to take during their school careers. However, they turn out to actually be one of the most effective tools for learning; quizzing and low stakes testing are crucial to optimise learning.

Testing has to be thought of as in a pedagogical sense. Testing, when used this way, engages learners in practicing recalling memories (information learnt). ‘The act of retrieving a memory changes the memory, making it easier to retrieve again later’. Repeated recall appears to help memory consolidate into cohesive representation in the brain to strengthen and multiply the neural routes by which the knowledge can later be retrieved. Research proves that practicing retrieval makes learning stick far better than re-exposure.

Retrieval practice is one of the most successful strategies for learning and the more effortful the retrieval the stronger the benefit. The greater the effort to retrieve learning, provided that there is high rates of success, the more learning is strengthen by retrieval. 

Rule 5 - Difficulties in learning are desirable

‘Learning is deeper and more durable when it is effortful’

The recent drive to increase the level of ‘challenge’ in lessons is an important one, but only if this challenge is focused and achievable. Teachers should take into account the expected knowledge, concepts and skills in their subject and teach just beyond this point. This way the most challenging assessment material that pupils face will not be the most challenging material they are exposed to.

Memory is the residue of thought and therefore challenges should ensure that pupils are thinking about subject content.

Rule 6 – Forgetting is the key to remembering

Forgetting does not mean information is lost but rather it is inaccessible as a result of disuse. However, it does remain in memory. Considering this forgetting is actually a desirable and important part of learning. As information is forgotten, retrieval strength decreases. When the information is presented again additional levels of learning are achieved. The struggle to recall the information improves connections within memory which leads to greater storage strength. 

Space Out Retrieval Practice 

It is important to leave a considerable amount of time between sessions of retrieval to take advantage of forgetting.

The misconception is that massed practice can lead to embedding something into long-term memory. Although this might lead to increased performance it is not conducive to learning. This is because when retrieval strength is high additional study has no effect on storage strength. When ideas have been forgotten the effort to recall them reconstructs the learning from long-term memory and makes the idea more memorable and connects it to other knowledge more recently learnt.

Mix it Up

Blocked practice where by an individual masters one type of problem before progressing onto another type of problem feels more productive. However, the mixing up of problems increases the ability to discriminate between different types of problems, helps to better spot the underlying structure of a problem and improves transfer in a later test.

In my next post I will present the final three rules (rules 7 and 8). 

Thinking about... T&L to meet the demands of the GCSE reforms.

Recently, I have been thinking about how to prepare my pupils to meet the increased demands of the GCSE reforms. The changes will result in pupils sitting more linear examinations not to mention: increased content with more complex topics to master.

There are two strategies that I have worked on and used within my own practice. They are both highly effective and easy to implement. I regularly test pupils to help them acquire the extensive amount of knowledge they require. I also develop my pupils’ ability to think like experts in order to help them become more effective at applying their knowledge during examinations. 

Increase testing

Generally, tests are considered for assessment purposes only. Teachers, in the main, have a negative perception of testing due to the significant increases in the number of tests that pupils now have to take and the pressures associated with those tests; when in actuality, testing is proven to be one of the most effective tools to optimise learning!

Testing has to be thought of as in a pedagogical sense. Testing, when used to aid learning, engages pupils in the practice of recalling information learnt and is often referred to as ‘retrieval practice’. Retrieval practice helps consolidate the memory by strengthening and multiplying the neural routes by which the knowledge can later be retrieved more readily. Research proves that retrieval practice makes learning stick far better than re-exposure.

This does not mean that pupils should be sitting test papers every week! However, gains in learning can be achieved if they are engaged in quizzing and low stakes testing. To achieve this I often present pupils with a ‘do now’ task when they arrive to a lesson. This is simply a short activity that requires them to recall previously learnt material. There are a variety of activities that can be used to achieve this, including:

  ü  Daily, weekly, monthly review of content via quizzing.

  ü  Cooperative learning structures (quiz-quiz-trade, rally coach, inside-outside circle etc).

  ü  Key word games.

  ü  Cue card activities.

  ü  Various questioning-strategies.

  ü  The use of ICT (e.g. Kahoot)

  ü  Interleaving and spacing out practice to increase effort required to retrieve learned content.

Teaching pupils to think like experts

‘Pupils are poor at transferring knowledge learned in one context to another without explicit instruction and advice’  (David Didau)

As teachers we focus on delivering the content of our subject and when we do focus on answering exam questions we continue to prompt pupils until we get the correct answer. But how often do we focus on how to tackle the question?

We have probably all taught a topic where pupils have successfully answered a question to a proficient level in class only for them to struggle with a very similar question in a test because the question is phrased slightly differently.

Pupils have poor metacognition; they see the surface of examination questions (what it is about) rather than recognising its deep structure (what it is asking). We are experts in our subjects. When presented with an exam question we analyse it to determine what it is about, what it is asking, the level of detail required in the response and exactly what is needed to gain full marks. Our pupils do not naturally possess this ability; they often rush to the answer without carefully considering what it is asking. To enable pupils to think like experts we need to develop their metacognitive skills.

Metacognition is about how we go about preparing pupils to deal with the problems that they face. Basically, as the quote above suggests, it is ‘thinking about thinking’. Pupils with well-developed metacognitive skills can think through a problem or approach a task, select appropriate strategies and resolve the problem more successfully. 

Teachers need to provide scaffolds to help pupils develop their metacognitive skills by making the frameworks for meta-cognition explicit. Deliberately building this type of framework into teaching can help pupils develop thought processes that enable them to effectively answer questions/address the problems that they are faced with.

I used ‘cover it in custard’ as a meta-cognitive scaffold (see image above) with my pupils to help them deconstruct exam questions and improve their examination performance. As a result of this strategy I have observed:

ü  Reductions in the number of silly mistakes pupils have been making.

ü  More clear and concise answers and less waffle,

ü  Answers have a more logical structure.

ü  An increase in confidence – pupils feel they are now in control of the paper.

ü  Less time wasted.

It was not easy to convince all pupils to adopt this strategy initially. I have found that some pupils felt it was too much effort or too time consuming, but it is important to understand that ‘thinking like an expert’ does not come naturally. As David Didau suggested in his post about metacognition; pupils not only need meta-cognition they also need to know that they need it – and they need to be to be told this. I had to ensure that pupils repeatedly engaged with and practiced using the CUSTARD scaffold and, over time, this way of thinking became habitual. 

If we want our pupils to adopt these models, we need to provide opportunities for them to observe ‘expert thinking’– teachers need to demonstrate ‘thinking out loud’. Explicitly modeling how, we as teachers, use the same metacognitive frameworks helps pupils to understand that they need to adopt this practice. This can be achieved in a number of ways:

ü  Walking Talking Mock – The teacher talks through their thought processes as they work through questions.

ü  Annotated paper (annotated with thoughts only)

ü  Live modelling – often using a document camera.

ü  Pupil to pupil modelling.

ü  Modelling the thinking and the answer.

ü  Metacognitive workbook

Thinking about how to meet the increased demands of the GCSE reforms? Test your pupils more and scaffold and model to increase their ability to think like experts. Judging by the amount of custard my year 11s bought me at the end of this year, they seemed to appreciate the advice!

For more information on preparing pupils for examinations and metacognition you may wish to read the blog posts below:

 ü  This much I know about…what REALLY WORKS when preparing students for their examinations!

 ü  What is meta-cognition and can we teach it?

 ü  This much I know about…The Sutton Trust/EEF Toolkit and the Golden Thread from evidence to student outcomes, via deliberate intervention