CAREER: Retrieval-Enhanced Learning of Foundational Conceptual Knowledge

本研究将检索练习的有效性研究应用于科学教育，以确定在本科生物学入门课程中对学生学习的影响。检索实践是一种让学生积极重建知识的实践，已被证明对有意义的学习和长期记忆有强大的影响。该项目将检索实践中最强大和最有效的策略特征与生物学中的科学概念相结合，以测试有意义的学习和知识获得的长期记忆。该项目组建了一个跨学科的研究顾问委员会，其中包括认知科学家和科学教育家，以帮助了解和指导这项研究。该研究涉及大约150-200名本科生物学入门学生。这两个目标包括：-确定支持检索实践的最佳方式，并利用积极的协作为具有不同学习特征的学生提供有意义的STEM学习。-在大型生物学导论课程中建立架式检索练习策略的有效性。这项工作将理论驱动的经验主义心理学与教学设计联系起来。目标1关注多因素（如线索生成、个体与协作检索、学习风格、语言或视觉格式），而目标2关注学生在不同场景下进行检索练习是否更有效。数据收集包括简答测试、探路者分析和调查。数据分析包括方差分析、析因设计和事后t检验，以进行两两比较和估计效应大小。本研究的结果和影响为加强生物学概念的概念学习建立了有效的检索练习策略，显示了基于阅读理解的个体差异，确定了学习风格在检索中的作用，并概述了检索练习在提高学生在更高水平的科学课程中的成功率方面的可行性和有效性。

This research applies recent findings about the effectiveness of retrieval practice to science education to determine the impact on students' learning in introductory undergraduate biology. Retrieval practice is the practice of having students engage in active reconstruction of their knowledge and has been shown to have powerful effects on meaningful learning and long-term retention The project integrates the most robust and effective strategies characteristic of retrieval practices with science concepts in biology to test for meaningful learning and long-term retention of knowledge gains. The project assembles an interdisciplinary Research Advisory Board that includes cognitive scientists and science educators to help inform and guide the study. It involves approximately, 150-200 undergraduate introductory biology students in the study.The two aims include:-Identifying the best ways to scaffold retrieval practice and use active collaboration to produce meaningful STEM learning for students with different learning characteristics.-Establishing the effectiveness of scaffolded retrieval practice strategies in a large introductory biology course.The work connects areas of theory-driven empirically-grounded psychology with instructional design. Aim 1 focuses on multiple factors (e.g. cue generation, individual versus collaborative retrieval, learning styles, and verbal or visual formats), while Aim 2 focuses on whether retrieval practice is more effective if students engage in retrieval under different scenarios. Data collection includes short-answer tests, Pathfinder analysis, and surveys. Data analysis involves analysis of variance, factorial designs, and post-hoc t-tests to perform pairwise comparisons and estimates of effect sizes. The outcomes and impacts of this research establish effective retrieval practice strategies for enhancing conceptual learning of biology concepts, show individual differences based on reading comprehension, identify the role of learning styles in retrieval, and outline the feasibility and effectiveness of retrieval practices in increasing students' success as they progress to higher-level courses in science.