Stopping Forgetting: Improving Student Performance through Memory Exercises

• In Event: TLC at APSA: Thinking Outside the Box to Increase Student Engagement

Abstract

This study rests on two premises of successful learning touched upon within the book Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, by Peter C. Brown, Henry L Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel. The first idea this study explores posits that successful learning is not accomplished by memorizing, but by “interrupting forgetting.” This study attempts to “interrupt forgetting” by providing students an opportunity to recall course material several lessons after the material was last covered in class. Second, Brown, et. al. further claim that the more difficult it is to retrieve information, the more concretely that information is learned. This study tests this assumption by having some cadets complete the test instrument from memory (the more difficult way to complete the task) while others are allowed to do so while referencing notes or other class material if they wish.

This research tests these concepts through a series of in-class exercises conducted across 30 sections of a 200-level course in American Politics. Cadets are given 10 minutes at the beginning of class to write everything they can recall about a specific topic previously covered in the course. Exercises take place at five different points spread evenly throughout the course. Cadets are divided into three groups: a control group, a group that writes without the use of notes, and a group that writes with the option of referencing their class notes and readings. All cadets in a given section of the American Politics course are assigned to the same group. Data collection for the study has been ongoing throughout the current semester. At the end of the course, cadets’ final course grades will be compared, as well as grades on individual exam questions that pertain specifically to one of the topics covered in one of the class exercises. For example, if one treatment administered was on the topic of the American Presidency, then grades on exam questions pertaining to the American Presidency will be compared to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment. Comparing cadet performance across the two treatment groups (closed note/open note) will provide evidence of whether the inability to reference class notes during the exercise contributed to greater learning endurance by making learning more difficult. Additionally, we plan to conduct a brief in-class survey at the end of the course to ask cadets about whether their note taking habits changed during the course. The same survey will ask about the volume of notes taken during the course (How many pages of notes did you take over the entire course?) This data will be used to compare the volume of notes taken by those allowed to use notes for the in-class writing exercises to the control group.

Authors

• Cole Spitzack, United States Military Academy

• Michael Wright, United States Military Academy, West Point

• Sean McMahon, United States Military Academy

• George Fust, US Army

• Dale Hommerding, United States Military Academy