How much students can remember plays a key role in their exam success. So, can we improve our memory? Is cramming really a successful revision method? What if Spacing your revision sessions was more effective? This would mean students could do the same amount of work but yield much greater results from it.
Read on to find out:
- What the “Spacing Effect” is
- What the latest research says about Spacing
- What practical implications the research has for your classroom
What is the Spacing Effect?
The “Spacing Effect” is one of the longest and most enduring findings in cognitive psychology. It was first detailed in 1885 by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus who found that humans tend to forget large amounts of information if they only learn something once.
Since then, research has consistently shown the power of spacing out your learning. This means doing little and often, instead of a lot all at once. This is an effective technique, as it allows time for the material to be forgotten and re-learnt. This process allows someone to cement it into their long-term memory (our blog on the countdown to exams talks about this in more detail.)
What does the research say about Spacing?
In some studies, using Spacing instead of cramming has resulted in a 10% to 30% difference in final test results. This finding has been found throughout a range of tasks, including remembering key words, random facts or solving maths problems.
One such study found that those who spaced out their revision scored higher on average (74%) than students who crammed their revision (49%). Researchers from three universities devised an experiment to explore the optimum amount of time to leave between revision sessions. They found that, although “the optimally efficient gap between study sessions is not some absolute quantity that can be recommended”, the longer you need to remember something for, the more you need to space out revision sessions.
For a more in-depth look at the research, check out these studies from our 99 Studies That Every Teacher Needs to Know series:
Why Spacing is important for your classroom practice
With the move away from modular exams towards linear, students’ ability to retain and recall large pieces of information has become even more important. When it comes to linear exams, strong recall is now a premium skill.
Teachers may be able to help improve students’ long-term memory by spacing out material as they teach. This approach may be at odds with conventional educational practices, such as focusing on a single topic within one week of a course; however, revisiting topics over time encourages deeper learning and strengthens memory. It can also help students understand how different ideas are connected, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the material as a whole.
Additionally, students can be taught to incorporate Spacing into their revision. Just as actors don’t leave all their rehearsals until the day before the opening night of a play, and athletes don’t only train the day before the match, the best results can be achieved if students regularly return to previously topics in their own learning. Many flashcard tools, such as Anki, support this spaced approach by gradually increasing the time between reviews.
Students often don’t pick the best study methods themselves, but by encouraging them and showing them the research, teachers may be able to get them on the right path. As cramming is so popular in exam season, it may be worthwhile to emphasise the effectiveness of doing one hour of studying a topic per day for a week over completing 7 hours in one day. Then, as it gets nearer to exams, students should be encouraged to return to the material more often. This is something for students to carefully consider when doing revision timetables, as it is not just the “what” that matters, but the “when” as well.
Final thoughts on Spacing
Spacing goes against many traditional course structures, which focus on covering a whole concept or topic before moving on to the next. However, it is an incredibly powerful way to enhance student learning. By leaving time between topics in class and revision sessions on the same material, students can drastically improve their retention. Have a go at incorporating it into your classroom, and encourage students to use it in their own study sessions, and you may end up seeing the payoff quite quickly.
For more tips on revision techniques, have a look at our guide to the best ways to revise, which also features links to more blogs and free resources.
