Distributed practice in classroom inquiry science learning

ABSTRACT

This study is inspired by laboratory studies demonstrating that distributing study sessions over time better supports learning and retention than clustering sessions. We compare two implementations of a multi-day inquiry science unit: in the clustered instruction condition, students completed an inquiry unit in five consecutive class periods. In the distributed instruction condition, students completed one activity per week for five weeks. Both conditions resulted in significant and similar gains in understanding and retention overall. Students’ self-directed revisits to previously studied materials differed by condition, with students in the clustered condition tending to visit materials studied on previous days. These distal revisits explained variance in delayed post-test scores as an interaction effect with condition. Students in the clustered condition who revisited distal materials tended to score higher on the delayed post-test, whereas those in the distributed condition who did so tended to score lower. Our findings illustrate the complexity of realising laboratory findings in classrooms under real-world conditions.

KEYWORDS:

• Distributed practice
• inquiry
• knowledge integration
• science education
• spacing effect

Acknowledgements

Although funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Grant #0822388, the views expressed here are not necessarily those of the NSF. Support was also provided by a grant from the first two authors’ institution (University of New Mexico). We would like to acknowledge the teachers and students who participated in this research, and express thanks to other members of the research group for their feedback. We acknowledge Victor Law, who provided feedback. Finally, we acknowledge the reviewers for their feedback, which strengthened this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [#0822388]; University of New Mexico.