Retrieval Practice (also known as the Testing Effect) has been proven as a highly effective study technique for students. Meanwhile, Elaboration, a subset of Generative Learning, is another powerful way to improve students’ learning experiences. The question is: can combining these methods boost student learning even more? In this post, we’ll bring you:
- A brief overview of Retrieval Practice and Elaboration
- Insights from research on combining these techniques
- Practical tips for using them together in the classroom
What are Retrieval Practice and Elaboration?
Retrieval Practice involves students actively recalling information they have learnt. Because it forces students to really think and engage with the material, Retrieval Practice can be rather challenging. However, this process helps strengthen students’ memory and makes it easier for them to recall what they have learned over time, effectively reducing the rate of forgetting.
Elaboration is when students explain concepts in their own words to better understand them. It involves linking new information to things they already know or have experienced. This active process helps students make sense of new ideas, and improves their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
While Retrieval Practice helps students remember facts, its impact on understanding deeper concepts has been less clear. In contrast, having students explain and expand on ideas has been shown to significantly improve their understanding of complex topics. Combining these two methods, called Constructive Retrieval, may enhance both memory retention and comprehension, giving students a more complete grasp of the material.
What does the research say about Constructive Retrieval?
In a recent study, 152 students watched a video lecture and then engaged in different study methods, including Constructive Retrieval, Retrieval Practice, Elaboration, or simply reviewing the material. The researchers then tested them on factual knowledge, comprehension, and metacognition. Let’s take a look at what the researchers found:
1. Constructive Retrieval provided superior Metacognition benefits
Students who practiced Constructive Retrieval improved both their factual knowledge and comprehension scores. Importantly, they also became more aware of their own learning. For example, these students had a clearer understanding of how well they were remembering facts and how well they grasped the lecture material. Given the benefits of Metacognition, this increased self-awareness about their learning process can help them study more effectively in the future.
2. Elaboration alone improved factual knowledge and comprehension
Students who used Elaboration did better on comprehension test questions than those who only reviewed the material or used Retrieval Practice. These students also remembered as many facts as the Retrieval Practice group, showing that Elaboration can help students retain factual information.
3. Comprehension is enhanced with more self-generated elaborations
Students who created their own examples and explanations saw higher comprehension scores than those who relied on teacher-provided examples. Additionally, the more students came up with their own elaborations, the better they grasped the concepts from the lectures.
4. Increased mental effort aids the retention of facts
Students who used Retrieval Practice retained more factual information than those who had only rewatched the lectures. Crucially, students could remember more facts when they had put in more effort into actively recalling information.
How can you use Constructive Retrieval in the classroom?
Based on the study’s findings, here are two suggestions on how you can use Retrieval Practice and Elaboration in your teaching:
- Check your students’ ability to generate their own elaborations – Elaboration works best when students create their own examples. If they find it difficult, try providing a few examples at the start before encouraging them to do the same.
- Conduct Retrieval Practice at an appropriate difficulty level – Retrieval Practice is more effective when it is mentally effortful. This approach ensures that the questions posed to students are challenging yet still achievable.
Final thoughts
Both Retrieval Practice and Elaboration are effective study techniques that can help students. Instead of only choosing one, combining both methods in Constructive Retrieval can lead to even better learning outcomes for students. And when done right, we place students in a better position to understand what they’re learning, remember information for future use, and achieve stronger academic results.
