LAB REPORT:

 

Authors: Daisy Prela, Emely Rodriguez, Seyi Rufai

 

Title: Academic Success Linked to Active Recall Studying

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not active recall truly improves academic performance across college students in a variety of suggested majors. 20 students, ten males and ten females, were included in this study and were categorized into two sections. Section one included students of a variety of majors who used active recall methods of studying and section two included students of a variety of majors who did not use active recall studying methods. Their study habits and grade outcomes were recorded based on multiple questions that were separated into two tables for each section. For both sections, it was clear that active recall studying worked better for students in demanding majors that practiced active recall correctly and included an incorporation of study methods that triggered long-term memory. Students that did not use active recall correctly were more likely to study for less amounts of time, and to receive worse grades. Students who were in non-demanding fields did not benefit from active-recall study methods and preferred studying using regular memorization habits over shorter periods of time. Active recall study methods proved to positively enhance a student’s performance and long term memory if it is utilized correctly within demanding majors and studied over longer periods of time.

 

Introduction:

   Active recall is a form of studying that uses the continuous recall of information to remember things more efficiently. It pairs with spaced repetition, another recall strategy done in specific time increments to improve long-term memory. These study strategies are effective in fields that require knowledge retention. In fact, educators and students everywhere continue to search for ways to grasp onto large amounts of material and be able to retain the information over a long period of time. Challenging majors such as biology, chemistry, and psychology benefit from active recall studying because it allows students to condense and recall information over long time periods. For example, in a study titled, “Using Electronic Flashcards to Promote Learning in Medical Students: Retesting versus Restudying,” Ralf Schmidmaier et al conducted an experiment on medical students and how the effects of repetitive studying and testing reflected on their overall performance. They discovered that active recall studying was an ineffective short-term learning strategy, and rather an effective long-term learning strategy (Schmidmaier, 2011). Students that used active recall studying over time were actively able to recall the information they learned before and recite it faster than those students who used basic memorization study methods. Similarly, this experiment will be testing the effectiveness of active recall strategies and the ineffectiveness of other study methods that are used by a variety of students in different majors across CCNY. Generally, it is expected that students who use active recall studying methods in demanding majors are more likely to do well in their classes and activate their long-term memory.

Methods/Materials

   In this experiment, ten males and ten females were picked randomly in the NAC library and asked a set of questions about their academic interests and study strategies. Their gender and majors were recorded. The questions were asked in order and were categorized in two separate sections- one for active recall students and another for non-active recall students. The answers to said questions placed the participants in tables one and two of their particular sections. In section one, table one recorded the responses of the students who used active recall studying strategies to three specific questions. Table two of section one recorded personal data like gender, major, and grade outcomes for active recall students. In section two, table one recorded the responses of the students who didn’t use active recall to three specific questions. Table two of section two recorded personal data like gender, major, and grade outcomes for non-active recall students.  Lastly, the data for all demographics were analyzed and used to determine the effectiveness of active recall across different majors of study and whether or not our hypothesis was correct.

 

Data

Section One:

TABLE 1: Active Recall Usage

Question 1: What type of active recall do you use? Ex: Problem solving, flashcard algorithms, formulating into own words & speaking out loud, practice tests, etc.

Question 2: Do you use spaced repetition?

Question 3: Are you able to recall the information for  the exam a week or two later? (Yes, No, Somewhat)

 

Section 2:

TABLE 1: No Active Recall Usage

Question 1: What is your method of study?

Question 2: Do you use spaced repetition?

Question 3: Are you able to recall the information for the exam a week or two later? (Yes, No, Somewhat)

 

Results

The study showed that active recall correlates to better grades, however, it also proved that this can only be done when it is used properly and efficiently linked to demanding majors. In section one, the students were all using active recall methods, and their study methods and outcomes for active recall were recorded in two separate tables based off of questions. In tables one and two of section one, active recall was witnessed as being utilized correctly and incorrectly amongst the students that fell within this category. Majors like engineering, anthropology, biomedical, and foreign language managed to correctly use active recall in the many different methods of practice that incompass it and received A’s. The data conveyed how students spanned out their studying over time and used spaced repetition so that their long-term memory was indeed stimulated rather than promoting simple memorization. The students that majored in gender studies and graphic design studied for shorter periods of time and did not utilize spaced repetition to its full potential as seen in the short period of time they studied for their exam. Active recall was not practiced over time, thus inhibiting long-term memory from being stimulated and causing lower grades. The students studying architecture and pre-med were using active recall methods correctly, however, the time span of studying was shorter and a lower grade was received.

 

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In section two, the students participating were not using active recall study methods. The biomedical, biology, physics, psychology and foreign language majors received lower grades while studying for their demanding majors in smaller time periods of time and by using rereading/memorization methods. No spaced repetition was used and their responses showed very little information was recalled after a week or two. Less memorization-based majors such as the students studying business, english literature, journalism, and advertising/marketing were able to receive better grades through using basic study methods such as rereading and highlighting. The student with the less demanding theater major  received an A through studying for short periods of time without active recall. Similarly, the student with the less demanding music education major received a B through studying without active recall over a short period of time. The student with the gender studies major received a C+ even though the study time period was longer.

 

Discussion

The results we obtained from our survey prove that our hypothesis was correct. The majority of students who answered yes to using active recall were in majors that required major retention of material. The tables show that less demanding majors like journalism and music education do not require active recall studying methods because there is less need for long-term memory stimulation.  When comparing students who were in the same major, a majority of students received higher grades when using active recall and spaced repetition because the information was instilled within long term memory. Those who utilized active recall over shorter periods of time received lower grades because there is a dire need for longer study periods in order for active recall to prove effective. There were only two students who received a grade lower than a B using active recall. Non-demanding majors that study without active recall had better grades because there wasn’t a need for extensive studying methods and time periods in order to sustain the information. Two students from both sections were special cases in this study. A student majoring in gender studies used active recall and received a C. The other student majoring in gender studies did not use active recall and received a C+. It was concluded that both students received low grades and the student who utilized active recall used it for a short period of time- refraining from activating long-term memory. Overall, the students with demanding majors benefited from active recall more than regular methods of study and this was determined through the lengths of studying periods and grade outcomes. The obvious limitation to our study is that there are multiple factors that contribute to the grade that the students received. Each student has different course loads, sleep schedules, and even social lives. A future experiment could be questioning how effective active recall is in correlation to average amounts of sleep one receives per night based off of these social factors.

 

References

Schmidmaier R, Ebersbach R, Schiller M, Hege I, Holzer M, Fischer MR. Using electronic             

flashcards to promote learning in medical students: retesting versus restudying.                     

Medical Education. 2011;45(11):1101–1110. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2011.04043.x