Monday, November 24, 2014

Superior student learning is a product of teachers structuring classes with the best learning methods and students utilizing them by having motivation to succeed

In regards to student learning, the responsibility is in both the teacher's and student's hands. The graphic to the right demonstrates this dual responsibility.

At the top of the chart during focus lessons and guided instruction, there is much teacher responsibility and little student responsibility. The responsibility distribution is completely switched at the bottom of the chart during collaborative and independent work, where there is little teacher responsibility and much student responsibility.

To maximize student learning, the best methods of learning must be applied. Much research has been completed on aspects of student learning, but their findings have not been utilized universally in today's classrooms.

Teachers must structure classes, tests, and group projects to benefit the students. However, students need to study correctly, get corrective feedback, and put in sufficient effort to succeed.

The main aspects of student learning studied were testing versus restudying, test format and corrective feedback, cooperative learning, the blended learning environment, and obstacles to student learning. These obstacles include sleep patterns and teaching to the test. The following is a summary of the key information learned:
  1. Taking intervening tests improve long term retention better than repeated studying
  2. When corrective feedback is given, short answer tests are more effective than multiple choice
  3. Cooperative learning increases student achievement only when there are group rewards based on group members' individual learning
  4. In a blended learning environment, students' satisfaction was positively correlated with their perception of collaborative learning
  5. When teachers only teach items on their test, students' overall learning is decreased

Taking practice tests is better than repeated studying for student's long term retention because students can practice the skills they need while they are learning


In two experiments performed by Henry L. Roediger, III and Jeffrey D. Karpicke of Washington University in St. Louis, results indicated taking tests before taking a final exam at least two days later was more beneficial than restudying the material. This has been attributed to testing's ability to provide practice for the necessary skills to succeed.

These results indicate that to improve student learning, students should take practice tests before their actual tests, and teachers should make these practice tests available or do them in class. If this is not done, students will start to forget concepts very quickly, as shown in the graph on the right.

University of Maryland Accounting Professor Stephen Brown agrees with this responsibility that teachers have to improve student learning. He gives many quizzes in class before each test and also provides his students with past test questions for them to review.

In the following video, Brown discusses his logic behind feeling great responsibility to improve student learning.


The experiment had students read passages and then either take a test or restudy. A final test was given later. When this final test was given just five minutes later, restudying was more helpful.

However, when the final was given two days and one week later, testing proved to be more beneficial. These options test long term retention, whereas the final test five minutes later focuses on short term retention. Clearly long term retention is more crucial to student learning.

Short answer quizzes with feedback is the best method for learning due to its greater retrieval demands and the opportunity to correct mistakes


Another study by Sean H. K. Kang and colleagues investigated short answer and multiple choice test format with the condition of corrective feedback. They found that when there was no feedback, those who took an intervening multiple choice test before the final test scored better than those with an intervening short answer test.

However, with corrective feedback, an intervening short answer test was more beneficial and this final exam score was the best overall out of all the conditions.

With this knowledge, it would make sense then that every class should be giving short answer quizzes with feedback. However, this is not the case very often, as professors tend to give multiple choice tests more often because the grading is much quicker.

In the video below, Stephen Brown articulates this point, and adds that the only place he would be able to utilize short answer quizzes and tests would be in small class sections.


If it is not realistic to give short answer quizzes in class, the professors should at least give corrective feedback because the final exam scores were better with this condition regardless of test format. Short answer intervening tests with corrective feedback is the overall best method for learning because short answer tests have greater retrieval demands than multiple choice tests.

Thus, there is a more thorough encoding of feedback with a short answer test than with a multiple choice test. However, without corrective feedback, short answer tests can be detrimental because their scores are usually lower than multiple choice tests.

Group rewards based on group members' individual learning are necessary for beneficial group projects since it creates individual accountability for the students


Robert E. Slavin of Johns Hopkins University compiled research from many studies that examined the student achievement outcomes of different types of group project rewards. He found that this collaborative learning only produced positive results of student achievement when there were group rewards based on each group members' individual learning.

Both group projects with group rewards for a group product and group projects with individual rewards only produced negative and no effect results of student achievement.

It is important to note that group rewards in general do not increase student achievement. There must also be an element of individual accountability. If the reward is simply for the group product, it is possible for one student to do all of the group's work. Thus, group members do not have as much individual accountability as they would have if they knew their effort and score affects the overall group score (as in the group reward for individual learning).

Group rewards based on each group members' individual learning involve students working together on a project and then having each student individually assessed on the work. Students are more likely to pay attention to each other's learning because they know their scores count for the group's success.

They also work together more, learning from each other and reinforcing points that they agree on. Finally, students are prone to disapprove of a student's behavior that is distracting to learning and speak out to that person to stop their behavior.

In classes with online and offline learning, student learning increases with group learning perceptions due to group project's increased role in the structure


In today's technology age, more professors are switching to the blended learning format, combining face-to-face and technology enhanced learning. Professors should only switch to this format knowing that student satisfaction will be based on their perceptions of group learning.

Satisfaction increases as positive perceptions of group learning increase. Satisfaction is a measure of the student's reaction to the quality of learning and their performance. This positive correlation was found in a study done by researchers Hyo-Jeong So and Thomas A. Brush.

Online learning has the stereotype that it lacks human interaction, but blended learning formats are starting to eliminate that with group projects that combine online and offline interaction with classmates. Since there is less class time, there is increased importance of self-motivation and self-management. Thus, if students struggle with this, their satisfaction of the course will be low.

If group projects in blended learning classes are structured with the proper rewards, it will set off a chain reaction of positive events. Students will be more motivated, they will work together to manage their time, they will have increased learning from the group project, and their satisfaction of the course will be high.

As mentioned by Brown in the video below, professors are also moving towards the blended learning format because there is not enough time to cover all the material with just traditional face-to-face class time. He does caution that not every class should have group projects though, as teachers should not overwhelm students with time consuming projects.


Teachers must avoid only teaching items that will be on the test because it misrepresents student learning on the whole topic by not covering certain information.


To enhance student learning about a topic, teachers should make sure they teach based on the curriculum, not based on certain items. Curriculum teaching encompasses the full body of knowledge a student should learn about a topic. Item teaching narrows the instruction to only certain concepts that the teacher will put on the test.

Item teaching does not necessary improve student learning on the topic being discussed. For example, if students are trying to broaden their vocabulary, knowing that only certain words would be on the test would make the students only learn those words. Item teaching would not include the whole vocabulary curriculum being taught, and then the teacher randomly choosing some words for the test. This example would be considered curriculum teaching.

Teachers may item teach because they, along with the entire school, is being evaluated based on test scores. Item teaching cuts down on the amount of concepts students need to learn for their tests, making it plausible that test scores would be higher than with concept teaching.

U.S. News ranks the top state high schools based on four categories: student/teacher ratio, advanced placement tests taken and passed, math proficiency score, and English proficiency score. Three of the four categories are based off of test scores.

Therefore, society may be placing too much emphasis on testing and not enough on general learning. If the goal for teachers and students alike is to improve student learning, then teachers should avoid item teaching and provide students with the full range of knowledge about a topic.

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