In this post, we examine how retrieval brings together classroom practice and current educational thinking to get the best out of our learners.
So often, in the midst of pre-exam panic, we hear the question, ‘But how do we study for English?’ Given the fact that English is such a skills-based subject, exam candidates can falter at where to begin their revision. However, what many fail to realise is that revision is a skill all of its own. Are we missing a trick by not teaching the art of study itself? With time at a premium in the 21st century school, one effective means of covering both content and skills for study is through implementing retrieval practice in our classrooms: an up-to-the-minute strategy which bridges the gap between what we, as teachers, have done since time immemorial and the science of learning.
We are all familiar with retrieval strategies, having used them under the umbrella heading of ‘revision’ for years; however, where this new methodology differs is in the way it is applied. Revision tends to be lumped at the end of the school year or before a class test, but this ‘cramming’ style of study does not best serve our students’ working memories. If all learning is left to fall into what researchers call ‘the forgetting pit’ and left untouched until a week before the final exam, students will struggle to retrieve that information and bring it back into working memory, poised and ready for testing. This is where a more regular approach to revision is beneficial for all and at any level.
In her book, Retrieval Practice 2: Implementing, Embedding & Reflecting, educational writer and practitioner Kate Jones states that we must “ensure that retrieval is integral throughout our lessons and not just something which ‘is done’ for five to ten minutes at the start”.
Of course, we can’t be ‘revising’ prior learning all the time to the detriment of new material, but making connections with what has already been taught is key in strengthening understanding and retention - an example of which can be seen in Week Five of our Quick-fire Vocabulary resources:
Connecting learning ties in perfectly with current priorities such as IDL and Skills for Life, Learning and Work: showing our young people how their learning is relevant and connected is key to their success both now and in the future.
This idea of connection is important in the Scottish Set Text element of the English exam at both National 5 and Higher. Identifying commonalities between different texts (or extracts of one text) is central to success in this paper. Of course, with so much to remember, it can be a challenge to study for this portion of the exam. This is where retrieval practice can make all the difference. As a strategy which can be taught in the classroom and then taken on by students as part of their independent study, retrieval is an extremely effective tool.
So What Does Retrieval Practice Actually Look Like?
Focusing on bringing previous learning from the recesses of long-term memory back into the working memory is the focus of retrieval practice; however, it is all the more effective when linked with other aspects of research. In order for retrieval to be successful, we can’t be returning to prior learning constantly - learners have to be given the chance to forget. Granted, this sounds counter-intuitive, but the effort of remembering what we have forgotten strengthens it in our minds. This is why integrating retrieval with strategies such as interleaving and spaced practice makes it more effective. By separating out how often we return to prior learning, the process of remembering it is more effortful and therefore allows the knowledge to ‘stick’ more in our working memory. This closes the gap between research and practice.
Moreover, interleaving - mixing topics for revision - goes hand in hand with retrieval, allowing learners to see what they are truly able to independently recall over a number of different lessons or topics.
In this resource, learners are asked to recall what they know and self-assess with a traffic light colour before (in the final task) identifying their strengths and weaknesses. With this completed, learners will have a more focused target which will aid them in revision and consolidation before their prelim and/or final exam. The combination of interleaving and retrieval is one which a teacher at Conduit has implemented within a Higher classroom when preparing for the Scottish Set Text exam. During one lesson, students (having completed their study of all six poems for their exam) participated in a Multiple Choice Quiz on the different poems. Now, some poems had just been taught, whereas others were covered earlier in the year so would be harder to recall in working memory. On the first attempt at the quiz, the class achieved an overall accuracy result of 56%, after which the results were discussed and the teacher provided whole class feedback. One week later, the class were presented with the same quiz and scored an overall total of 86%. Students were not given warning about either quiz, but did better on the second attempt after the initial feedback. By integrating retrieval, interleaving and whole class feedback, the score increased significantly. Of course, the teacher did a deep dive of individual performances to provide more focused feedback, but the general enhanced performance seems to back up the research, along with subsequent quizzes.
Our Resources: A Helping Hand with Retrieval Practice
One major advantage that retrieval practice has over traditional revision is that it is active. Reading over and memorising notes is fine in the short-term, but in order to embed learning, it is better to actively process and think about the information in question. It also allows learners to identify the gaps in their learning very quickly by relying solely on their own memory.
Our growing collection of Conduit resources provides opportunities for retrieval practice in the classroom. In particular, our materials on Scottish Set Text such as the one pictured below can be applied to any writer of choice:
It’s time to think outside the box when it comes to learning and revision. Although there has to be a place for private study, our students thrive when learning from each other, too. This can be achieved through game-style learning. Our retrieval dice game is a perfect way for students to support each other and recall important information needed to progress their learning:
This resource is an invaluable way for students to not only recall facts and quotations, but to enhance their higher order thinking skills by answering analysis and evaluation questions on their texts in a fun and co-operative way.
The question of how higher order skills and retrieval practice can be married together is one which has been frequently asked. It would be wrong to think that the two are mutually exclusive. If students are able to successfully retrieve the data they need, this is the springboard for developing their analytical skills: one begets the other. In a resource from our Quick-fire Vocabulary series, the final retrieval slide links the two in a simple yet effective way:
Having used dual coding to help students recall prior learning of vocabulary, they are then asked to analyse the relevance of the symbol, thus strengthening their understanding of the word through a higher order task. In this way, initial retrieval is the basis for further learning and making connections between ideas.
Overall, our aim is to provide meaningful resources which will allow our students to connect their knowledge and skills. We are living in a ‘golden age’ of education where, at last, the science of learning is becoming accessible to teachers in classrooms across the country. We must take advantage of this to benefit not only our learners, but also ourselves as practitioners. Retrieval practice, along with other methodologies, have always been with us in one form or another, but now we can utilise them to make our classrooms more evidence-based places in which everyone can feel confident, motivated and encouraged.
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