Retrieval-based learning, using tests for content review, frequently proves more effective for knowledge retention compared to alternative methods. Extensive research has explored this with older students, often in contrast to more passive techniques like rereading or note rewriting, typically focusing on vocabulary content, in non-classroom…

Example-based learning often uses a design in which learners first receive basic instructional explanations of new principles and concepts and then examples thereof. In this sequence, it is crucial that learners self-explain by using the content of the basic instructional explanations to elaborate on the examples. Typically, learners are not…

Participants tend to initiate immediate free recall (IFR) of short lists of words with the very first word on the list. Three experiments examined whether rehearsal is necessary for this recent finding. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with lists of between 2 and 12 words for IFR at a fast, medium, or slow rate, with and without…

Previous studies have demonstrated that making annotations can be a meaningful and useful learning method that promote metacognition and enhance learning achievement. A web-based annotation system, Virtual Pen (VPEN), which provides for the creation and review of annotations and homework solutions, has been developed to foster learning process…

Two experiments were performed with college students to study memory monitoring during the learning of word lists. Both experiments suggested that successful monitoring to decide which items were already encoded did not occur during presentation of material but was restricted to recall trials. (Author/BS)

High school students studied a brief history text, then either took a test on the passage, spent equivalent time reviewing, or went to an unrelated task. A test given two weeks later indicated that the test condition resulted in better retention than either the review or control conditions. (Author/GK)

Two experiments were performed to determine whether questions inserted after prose passages initiate reviews which facilitate retention of the information in memory. Results suggest that the backward review is not attributed to a retrieval phenomenon but to a strengthening of memory traces at the time of the probe. (Author/GK)

Four different methods for attending to a lecture were studied: listening, listening with an outline, note-taking, and note-taking with an outline. Each method was designed to influence the learner's level of processing and, therefore, to effect the encoding and retrieval of information from a lecture. In addition, the effects of no review or…

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of note taking and reviewing on learning from text. The findings supported the encoding function of note taking and demonstrated that unguided elaboration hindered performance on teacher-made tests. (Author/GK)

The effects on retention of adjunct questions either placed at the end of a passage or inserted after their respective paragraphs within the passage were examined. Both treatments led to superior retention of the previously questioned facts. The position of the adjunct questions did not differentially affect performance. (Author/BW)

College students read prose passages and answered either verbatim or paraphrased inserted questions while reading under review or no review conditions. On a posttest students who received paraphrased questions outperformed students who received verbatim questions. This result supported the contention that paraphrased adjunct questions could…

Three methods for studying college textbook chapters were compared, with 50 college special admissions students as subjects. Utilizing a counterbalanced design, students enrolled in a study skills course were given instruction in three study techniques: SQ3R, outlining, and underlining. The SQ3R method (Francis Robinson, 1946) consists of five…

The usefulness of taking notes to enhance recall was assessed, based on reviewing the research literature using the techniques of meta-analysis. Meta-analysis allows for both the computation of the strength of an effect within studies and the determination of mean effect sizes averaged across related studies. Fourteen studies that maintained…

This study sought to determine a useful frequency for refreshing students' memories of complex procedures that involved a formal computer language. Students were required to execute the Microsoft Disc Operating System (MS-DOS) commands for "copy,""backup," and "restore." A total of 126 college students enrolled in six…

Students were randomly assigned to read a text passage displayed on microcomputers in one of four conditions: (1) required reviewing of main; or (2) alternate text when responses to adjunct questions were incorrect; (3) reading with adjunct questions; and (4) reading without adjunct questions. (Author/LMO)