Implementing Spaced Retrieval Practice Across Multiple STEM Domains to Enhance Student Learning in Barrier Courses

在NSF改善本科生STEM教育计划：教育和人力资源(IUSE：EHR)的支持下，该项目旨在通过空间检索练习改善STEM入门课程的学习，从而服务于国家利益。间隔提取练习要求学生定期回答要求他们回忆以前所学内容的问题。它是一种增强记忆、基于研究的教学技术，已被证明可以在学期内和学期之间改善对概念的记忆。间隔检索练习在障碍课程中尤其重要，在这些课程中，缺乏成功限制了学生继续攻读STEM学位。本项目将在十门不同的STEM入门课程中研究间隔检索练习的有效性。这一干预措施可能对那些传统上在STEM方面表现不佳的学生最有利，从而有助于扩大STEM职业生涯的参与度。基于先前在几门课程中间隔提取的有效性的结果，该项目旨在实施并测量路易斯维尔大学十门不同本科STEM课程中间隔提取的效果。通过一系列研讨会，项目团队负责人将与教员合作，为他们的课程设计间隔检索练习。干预措施将在所有课程中使用相同的实施战略实施一个学期，总共惠及1600多名学生。课堂内容在间隔检索练习后的保留将以受试者内的方式与在集中检索练习后的保留进行比较。练习操作的效果(跟随间距的性能与集中的效果之间的差异的大小)将在不同的课程中进行比较，从而允许跨域评估间距的有效性。对于那些证明间隔检索做法有效的课程，该项目将调查与间隔有关的惠益大小是否不同。此外，根据样本大小和教室的变化，可能会检测到其他课堂设计和人口统计学调节因素的影响。研究结果可能提供证据支持实施间隔检索作为在全国范围内提高学生在STEM课程中的成功的策略。越来越多的学生在STEM课程中取得成功，将导致更多的人成功地从事STEM职业。它还将为未来的研究铺平道路，以探索间隔检索做法在不同类型高等教育机构中的影响，可能导致更广泛地采用干预措施。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by improving learning in introductory STEM courses through spaced retrieval practice. Spaced retrieval practice requires students to periodically answer questions that require them to recall what they previously learned. It is a is a memory-enhancing, research-based instructional technique that has been shown to improve memory of concepts both within and between semesters. Spaced retrieval practice is especially important in barrier courses where a lack of success restricts students from further pursuing STEM degrees. This project will study the effectiveness of spaced retrieval practice in ten different introductory STEM courses. This intervention may be most beneficial to students who traditionally underperform in STEM, thus helping to broaden participation in STEM careers.Building on previous results of the effectiveness of spaced retrieval in a few courses, this project aims to implementing and measuring the effects of spaced retrieval in ten different undergraduate STEM courses at the University of Louisville. Through a series of workshops, project team leaders will work with faculty to design spaced retrieval exercises for their courses. The intervention will then be implemented for one semester using the same implementation strategy in all courses, reaching a total of over 1,600 students. Retention of classroom content following spaced retrieval practice will be compared, in within-subjects fashion, to retention following massed retrieval practice. The effect of the practice manipulation (the magnitude of the difference between performance following spacing versus massing) will be compared across different courses, permitting assessment of spacing's effectiveness across domains. For those courses in which spaced retrieval practice is shown to be effective, the project will investigate whether the magnitude of the spacing-related benefit differs. In addition, it may be possible to detect other classroom design and demographic moderators of the effect, depending upon sample sizes and variations in classrooms. Results could provide evidence to support implementation of spaced retrieval as a strategy to increase student success in STEM courses nationwide. Increasing student success in STEM courses will lead to more individuals successfully pursuing STEM careers. It will also pave the way for future research to explore the impacts of spaced retrieval practice in the context of different types of institutions of higher education, potentially leading to even broader adoption of the intervention. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.