Students' Self-Reported Use of Retrieval Practice: A Comparison between Mathematics and Social Science Courses

• In Event: Toward an Understanding of How Learning Strategies Can Be Effective for Learners Across Contexts

Abstract

Background
Some study practices have been particularly effective at enhancing students' learning. These practices include retrieval practice, explanation, metacognitive monitoring, and spacing out learning (e.g., Dunlosky et al., 2013). Yet, relatively less is known about how often students use their study practices across different domains (see Tullis & Maddox, 2020). The present work addresses this gap by examining whether two samples of students were more likely to use certain strategies when studying for their mathematics classes versus their social science classes. Building on a handful of studies that have examined students' general (e.g., Karpicke et al., 2009; Hartwig & Dunlosky, 2012) and course-specific strategies (Yan & Wang, 2021; Zepeda & Nokes-Malach, 2021), we included a eight strategies that involved aspects of retrieval practive (working on practice problems, using flashcards, asking prequestions), explanation, metacognitive monitoring, and spacing out learning. Knowing which domains seem to facilitate (or inhibit) the use of particular strategies reveal the complexity of how students regulate their strategy use and could be a useful way of identifying affordances that can be built into the kinds of support systems discussed by others in this session.

Method
As part of larger studies, two undergraduate samples were asked to report how often they engaged in 8 study activities for a current math course and a current social science course. After exclusions, Study 1 included 111 students from a Northeastern U.S. university; they were recruited via mathematics course listservs in Spring 2021. Study 2 included 269 students after exclusions, recruited from two Northeastern U.S. universities via their mathematics courses in Fall 2021 (see Table 1 for sample characteristics). Mid-semester, students responded to the following question for each course: for your math [social science] course, [name of course], how often do you use the following study activities? (Response scale: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always). See Figure 1.

Results
We evaluated whether students used the strategies more in one domain than another by conducting a series of bonferonni-corrected, paired-sample t-tests (see Table 2). Across studies, students reported that they engaged in "testing [themselves] with questions or practice problems" and "identifying which concepts or information [they] do not understand" more frequently in their mathematics course than their social science course. In contrast, students were more likely to report using "flashcards" in their social studies course than their mathematics course. They were equally likely to "space out [their] study sessions…" and "keep track of how well [they] understand the material" across the two domains. In Study 2, students reported using three additional strategies more frequently in their mathematics course than their social science course.
These results reveal that mathematics courses often facilitate many types of practices more frequently than social science courses. One explanation is that students might find a greater need to regulate their learning in their mathematics courses than in their social science courses, supporting aspects of agenda-based regulation (Ariel et al., 2009). Taken together, this work has implications for how study/learning strategy interventions might be implemented and adapted across different domains.

Authors

• Cristina D. Zepeda, Vanderbilt University

• David B. Miele, Boston College

• Meghan Coughlan, Boston College