Lasting Learning DFG FOR 5254

Applying retrieval and distributed practices to enhance student learning and achievement in a university course | Advances in Physiology Education | American Physiological Society Among the “desirable difficulty” (DD) strategies developed by cognitive scientists, retrieval practice and distributed practice are two of the most robust and advantageous. This study evaluated a three-component intervention to enhance student learning that consisted of instruction about the advantages of retrieval and distributed practices, encouragement of independent application of these methods, and the use of pop quizzes to facilitate retrieval and foster distributed studying. Student exam scores were compared in two sections of a university sports nutrition course that differed in only one experimentally relevant way: one received the three-component intervention (DD Strategy Group), whereas the other did not (Control Group). During the DD Strategy Group’s first class meeting, the instructor gave the students a 30-minute tutorial in which he introduced retrieval and distributed practices and then summarized the evidence demonstrating the learning advantages of each. The DD Strategy Group also completed 10 pop retrieval quizzes during the semester, each of which consisted of three to five short-answer questions and took roughly 10 min to complete. A multivariate ANOVA with follow up t tests revealed that the DD Strategy Group outscored the Control Group on course exam 1 (t45 = 2.50, P = 0.02, d = 0.8), exam 2 (t45 = 3.35, P < 0.001, d = 1.0), exam 3 (t45 = 4.38, P < 0.001, d = 1.3), and exam 4 (t45 = 4.33, P < 0.001, d = 1.3). In summary, the DD Strategy improved exam performance by nearly 16%, making it a practical and effective way to enhance student learning. NEW & NOTEWORTHY A three-component strategy that included educating students about the counterintuitive benefits of retrieval and distributed practices, encouraging independent application of these methods, and utilizing pop quizzes to facilitate retrieval and foster distributed studying habits resulted in significant increases in student exam performance in a university course.

Dobson (2025) showed that teaching students to use retrieval and distributed practice – plus adding pop quizzes – led to big gains in a university course. 🧠 The intervention improved exam scores by about 16%, proving “desirable difficulties” work. #EduSky
➡️ doi.org/10.1152/adva...

How note-taking and note-using affects the benefit of interleaving over blocking - Memory & Cognition Interleaving items from different categories is often better for learning than blocking items by category, but research on the interleaving effect has neglected situations in which people can take not...

Little et al. (2025) found that interleaving enhanced learning compared to blocking when learners did not take notes; this advantage was reduced when notes were taken but unavailable at test and eliminated when learners could take notes and use them during test.📝
link.springer.com/article/10.3...

New article:

Gonçalves et al. (2025) found that retrieval practice gives a small but reliable learning advantage over elaborative strategies overall (g = 0.14), but this benefit depends on conditions.

Check it out using the following open access link:

link.springer.com/content/pdf/...

New study from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social members.

Pan et al. (2025) found that answering ChatGPT-generated prequestions before reading boosts later memory and comprehension of the text.

Check it out using the following open access link:
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...

Do differences in topic knowledge matter? An experimental investigation into topic knowledge as a possible moderator of the testing effect A large body of research indicates that testing results in better long-term retention compared to restudying. Given the relevance of such effects for education, there is interest in the conditions ...

Macaluso & Fraundorf (2025) examined whether topic knowledge influences the testing effect. Contrary to past research, testing improved memory only when feedback was given. Prior knowledge aided learning but didn’t change the testing advantage. #EduSky

➡️ doi.org/10.1080/0965...

Without Integration, Everything Is Nothing: A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Instructional Support for Drawing-to-Learn - Educational Psychology Review Generative drawing, or drawing-to-learn, has been studied as an effective learning strategy primarily used in science learning. However, drawing can be cognitively demanding, requiring instructional s...

In a meta-analysis, Leutner and Biele (2025) from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social research group found that
instructional support for drawing-to-learn boosts comprehension only when it facilitates integration between verbal and pictorial representations. #EduSky #FOR5254
➡️ doi.org/10.1007/s106...

New study:
Ingendahl & Undorf (2025) found that making immediate judgments of learning (JOLs) changes how people study, boosting memory for related word pairs but harming memory for unrelated ones.

Check it out using the following open access link:
psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...

Breaking Down Text Complexity: The Impact of Element Interactivity on Text Comprehension Beyond Readability and Cohesion | Request PDF Request PDF | Breaking Down Text Complexity: The Impact of Element Interactivity on Text Comprehension Beyond Readability and Cohesion | Text complexity, an important factor of text-based learning, is...

Lenk-Blochowitz et al. (2025) show that text complexity isn’t just about readability or cohesion—systematically increasing element interactivity (i.e., how many ideas must be held in mind at once) impairs comprehension and raises perceived cognitive load.

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Modality Matters: Evidence for the Benefits of Speech‐Based Adaptive Retrieval Practice in Learners with Dyslexia Developmental dyslexia can significantly impact educational achievement. This study shows that dyslexia-related disadvantages in the memorization of vocabulary are modality-specific: processing textu....

Wilschut et al. (2025) show that response modality shapes learning. In retrieval practice, learners with dyslexia performed worse when typing but caught up when speaking. 🗣️
The issue lies in typing delays, not memory ability. #EduSky

➡️https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12769

Practice testing enhances learning but not attitude change from persuasive texts - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Practice testing enhances learning but not attitude change from persuasive texts

New study

Galeano Weber et al. (2025) found that practice testing—both pretesting (guessing before reading) and posttesting (retrieving after reading)—enhanced factual learning from persuasive texts 🧠 but did not increase attitude change.

Check it out:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

von Aufschnaiter et al. (2025) showed that inconsistent arrow representations in mechanics diagrams can confuse learners and hinder understanding of motion and force concepts.

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Nemeth et al. (2025) from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social research group found that tailoring study sequences to individual confusion patterns did not outperform random interleaving, suggesting that adaptivity may not provide additional benefits. #EduSky #FOR5254
▶️ doi.org/10.1016/j.li...

Frequent Testing vs. Second-chance Testing: An Exploration | Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research V.1

Herman et al. (2025) compared frequent testing with second-chance testing on learning. They found no difference in final exam performance but frequent testing led to better first attempts and students felt more stressed in the less frequent testing group. 📚
doi.org/10.1145/3702...

Fiorella, Capobianco, and Jaeger (2025) found that explaining or drawing boosts comprehension only when learners translate across formats but these benefits didn’t extend to transfer, suggesting that generative activities alone may not foster deep application without added support.
lnkd.in/e5mP_Dx2

How does interest in a course interact with course learning? The present study modeled how students' interest in a course of study changes and how those changes fit into their broader course experiences.The pres…

Fryer et al. (2025) found that postgraduate students’ initial and growing course interest strongly predicted post-course self-efficacy and domain interest, while higher prior knowledge was linked to lower initial course interest and less growth.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Entwurf eines Interessenmodells für die Naturwissenschaften Im Beitrag wird ein Entwurf eines Interessenmodells f&#252;r die Naturwissenschaften vorgestellt, das sich auf zentrale Aspekte von Interesse als I) zeitlich stabile Disposition (Voraussetzung f&#252;...

New Study from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social members:

Von Aufschnaiter, Endres, and Petermann (2025) proposed a model conceptualizing science interest as an interaction of stable dispositions, situational processes, and long-term development 🔬.

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Laursen and Fiacconi (2025) demonstrated that perceptual learning can influence JOLs for new material, even when prior learning occurred 24 hours earlier. Fluency derived from previous experience can bias metacognitive evaluations, leading to overconfidence in memory. doi.org/10.1037/cep0...

New study by @marinaklimovich.bsky.social & Tobias Richter from our @learningfor5254.bsky.social research group: Interleaved practice enhanced the acquisition of spelling rules in third graders and the combination with instructional guidance produced lasting transfer gains. #EduSky🔗 rdcu.be/eKh4Y

Üben im Mathematikunterricht – Konsolidierende Übungsformate und ihre lerntheoretische und empirische Fundierung - Unterrichtswissenschaft For decades, in German-speaking areas, well-founded recommendations for practice formats in the mathematics classroom have been available, and instructional models of practice are also examined in empirical research on learning and instruction. While empirical studies often focus on consolidating factual knowledge and skills, suggestions typically adopt a broader view of goals for practice: Consolidation then refers to both skills and conceptual understanding, often in connection with each other. This article discusses the research available as well as the possible implications for practice in mathematics classrooms and for desirable further research on practicing.For the design of practice phases, it is first necessary to specify the goals (especially mathematical concepts and mathematical procedures and strategies) and then identify the associated psychological types of knowledge (factual knowledge, skills, and understanding) and the function of the practicing (securing, flexibilizing, or deepening). These determinations then allow for the selection and design of suitable practice formats, of which the following five types—each with their theoretical foundation, empirical evidence, and considerations for practical implementation—are presented: (1) Retrieval practice, (2) distributed practice (primarily for declarative factual knowledge or simple skills), (3) interleaved practice with the implicit possibility for comparisons (especially for easily confusable facts or skills) or with explicit comparison prompts (also for more complex types of knowledge, such as procedural flexibility or understanding), (4) elaborative practice (with a focus on understanding), and (5) combinatory practice as an “intelligent” integration of multiple practice goals. While the first three practice formats have been systematically researched, the last two are more commonly found under the umbrella term “productive practice” in theoretically justifiable but less extensively studied practical recommendations.

Leuders & Loibl (2025) argue that effective math practice depends on aligning instructional formats with learning goals—retrieval, distributed, interleaved, elaborative, and combinatory practice each serving to secure, flexiblize, or deepen knowledge.
Check it out:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Our member @heikeruss.bsky.social from our #DFG #LastingLearning research group @learningfor5254.bsky.social presented one of our recent studies “When Does Learning by Non-Interactive Teaching Work?" at the 𝗔𝗤𝗨𝗔_𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 at PH Karlsruhe
--> doi.org/10.1007/s106...

#EduSky
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Die Unterstützung des Konsolidierens – eine zentrale, aber vernachlässigte Dimension von Unterrichtsqualität - Unterrichtswissenschaft Supporting consolidation, understood as the strengthening of declarative knowledge and the automation of procedural knowledge, represents a central dimension of teaching quality. Despite its importance, research on teaching quality has largely overlooked this aspect. This article brings together perspectives from educational psychology and subject-specific pedagogy to examine the key mechanisms of consolidation and to clarify its role in disciplinary learning processes. The analysis focuses on two main functions of consolidation: the stabilization of declarative knowledge and the optimization of procedural knowledge. From a subject-specific pedagogical perspective, the article presents instructional designs and task formats that effectively support these functions in classroom practice.The article concludes with a comparative analysis of the contributions in this thematic section. From the perspective of educational psychology, the mechanisms of consolidation are well understood, but their implementation in school settings remains insufficiently studied. From the perspectives of mathematics, language arts, and physical education pedagogy, consolidation appears as a highly relevant aspect of teaching and learning, but it remains theoretically and empirically underdeveloped. Future work should attend more closely to aligning consolidation practices with specific learning content, addressing students’ prior knowledge, and managing the frequency and intensity of consolidation opportunities in instruction.

Keller et al. (2025) argue that supporting consolidation—strengthening declarative and automating procedural knowledge—is a key yet neglected dimension of teaching quality 🧩.

Check it out using the following open access link:
doi.org/10.1007/s420...

Look like me or act like me? Charlotte Vössing presented a study about key features of model observer similarity to support students' situational interest in emotional design at the #PAEPS2025 conference at @uni-jena.de in collaboration with our @learningfor5254.bsky.social @dfg.de research group. ✨

Can the effects of generative drawing on lasting learning be optimized through integration of retrieval practice? Creating drawings to depict the content of an expository text triggers generative processes that contribute to the construction of coherent mental mod…

Kim et al. (2025) found that combining drawing with retrieval practice 🎨🧠—by having students first draw from memory and then revise with the text—did not enhance long-term learning compared to open-book drawing.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

At the #PAEPS2025 conference at @uni-jena.de @marinaklimovich.bsky.social from our research group on @learningfor5254.bsky.social presented 2 experiments on enhancing the acquisition of Japanese Hiragana through interleaved practice - showing lasting effects after 1 week. #EduSky @dgps.bsky.social

At the #PAEPS2025 conference in collaboration with our
@learningfor5254.bsky.social @dfg.de research group, Alina Roensch presented a study that investigated the effects of a closed- vs. pure-open book format on learning strategies and outcomes in journal writing.📖 @dgps.bsky.social @uni-jena.de

Interleaved practice enhances grammar skill learning for similar and dissimilar tenses in Romance languages Interleaved practice (or interleaving), the strategy of alternating between categories or concepts during study or practice, can enhance second langua…

New study
Pan et al. (2025) found that interleaving—mixing grammatical tenses during learning—enhanced verb conjugation, tense identification, and even language identification 🗣️ in Romance languages.

Check it out using the following access link:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Are direct effects of cognitive activation on student outcomes enough? Exploring the role of adaptation and use of opportunities Although cognitive activation has been receiving growing scholarly attention, research findings on its contribution to student outcomes have been inco…

Charalambous et al. (2025) found that cognitive activation alone does not reliably improve student outcomes 🎓. Instead, students benefit most when cognitively activating instruction is both adapted to their needs and actively used.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We had an insightful Lasting Learning symposium "Interleaved practice in meaningful learning" #EARLI2025 #Graz. ✨

📸 @veitkubik.bsky.social (discussant), T. Richter (chair), @marinaklimovich.bsky.social (2nd chair), @stevencpan.bsky.social, P. Babari, @lennartschalk.bsky.social

#DFG #EduSky

At our Lasting Learning symposium “Interleaved practice in meaningful learning” at #EARLI2025 #Graz, @marinaklimovich.bsky.social presented two studies on the benefits of interleaved practice for third graders learning German spelling rules. ✨

#DFG #EduSky

Pictured 📷: @marinaklimovich.bsky.social

At our Lasting Learning symposium on retrieval practice #EARLI2025 #Graz, @tinoendres.bsky.social et al. showed that emotional design + retrieval practice led to the strongest lasting learning. 💡
Also: laser pointer = top attention tool 🔎😄👍

#DFG #EduSky

Pictured 📸: Tino Endres