Spaced Learning Supports Productive Struggle in an Online Learning Platform (Poster 9)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 4:20 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning (TICL) Poster Session

Abstract

This study examined how two well-established learning science principles—spaced learning and productive struggle—interacted to impact students’ learning on an edtech platform (IXL). We studied IXL skill practice in math and ELA among 9,216 K-5 students in one district and classified students’ practice patterns on each skill as (1) massed or spaced, and (2) low-struggle or high-struggle. We found that spaced practice was more beneficial for students’ learning than massed practice, and there was a significant interaction such that the spacing effect was largest for high-struggle skills. These results suggest that educators can use spaced learning as one strategy to support students’ productive struggle, which in turn boosts academic growth by putting mastery of difficult material within reach.

Authors

• Christina C Schonberg, IXL Learning

• Bozhidar M. Bashkov, IXL Learning

• Mary Hargis, IXL Learning

• Xiaozhu An, IXL Learning