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This teacher training course is made of 5 topics, this topic: retrieval practice theory, is made of 3 layers and is suitable for both teachers and managers within a school. The teacher may read about each layer here and if desired or required can use the timely practice app to embed the course into their long-term memory. |
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Most schools use a scheme of learning which requires teachers to teach each topic within a few days. During those few days the learners practise questions on what they have just learned, but do no more practice until they encounter the topic again in an end-of-unit or end-of-year test. This would be defined as blocked learning. Concentrating the practice at the point of teaching is called blocked learning, or overlearning.
timely practice was devised to enable retrieval practice to be used by teachers. With timely practice some practice questions are done by learners directly after teaching , (blocked practice or overlearning) and some are spread out over the following lessons (the retrieval practice). The timely practice app gives each learner close to optimal spacing but typically spacing might be do another question 1 day after teaching, another question 2 days after that, then after 3 more, 5 more, 8 more etc. daysdays (i.e. approximately Fibonacci).
The spacing tries to ensure that
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Looking at the forgetting curves in the graph above - we suggest that learners who forget:
within 2 days, within 3 days and within a week are ideal for timely practice - we call these learners “our cohort”, as they most benefit from timely practice,
between 1 and 4 weeks although these learners will benefit from timely practice, they may gain almost as much from whole class retrieval practice,
over 4 weeks - these are typically high attaining learners, who homework and end-of-unit tests etc works well for - although it has to be said that most “top sets” in year 7 and 8 will contain a few learners who will benefit from timely practice and without a retrieval practice program may well be in middle or even lower middle sets by year 10 and 11.
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With successful retrieval practice we are improving the recall of the faster forgetter (e.g forgets within 2 days), with a few retrieval practice questions (e.g. 5 retrieval practice questions) until they can remember as the best rememberers do (e.g. for over 4 weeks)
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Over time, the fastest forgetter with retrieval practice can remember for longer than the best rememberer without retrieval practice. After a few more retrieval practice questions the interval (the wait between one practice and the next) will become several years. Often layers no longer need to be practised, because harder layers cover the same learning.
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Sometimes we may be able to predict that most learners won’t be able to recall learning e.g. from the last maths lesson before a half term holiday, to the first maths lesson after the holiday. The teacher may prefer to
do a cool down (retrieval practice assignment + project based learning in the last maths lesson before the holiday (along with a retrieval practice assignment),
only add the learning (of the last maths lesson lessons before the holiday) “as taught” after revising or reteaching on the first maths lesson after the holiday.
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Once we can see learning slipping away to forgetting - through by our assessment of retrieval practice - then we can begin to find ways to reduce this.
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