Rrhearsal Strategy: Repeating: Examples

READING TUTORS
The Recall Knowledge objective is for students to read all the words in a selection, so all the words in the selection constitute the target information. Students read the words to be learned in sentences because that provides a meaningful context for the words, and meaningfulness is an important factor in students learning words [1]. In order to provide active task performance for every student the teacher organizes students in tutorial pairs with adult volunteers or older students. Using adult volunteers in the kind of reading activity described here can significantly improve students' reading achievement [2]. Cross-age tutoring, where older students tutor younger students, can significantly improve the reading abilities of both those being tutored and those who are tutoring [3]. The Rehearsal Strategy has students read and reread words aloud because oral rereading is effective in helping students learn from written text [4], especially lower-ability students [5]. The tutor begins using a Rehearsal Task when the student cannot read a word in a sentence. The tutor prints the missed word on a card, says it, and has the student say it a number of times. The tutor then asks the student to reread the sentence. The tutor provides Rehearsal Guidance by focusing the student's attention on the words and sentences by pointing to them as the tutor or student says them. The tutor also provides guidance by praising students as they work. After a while, the tutor uses a Recall-Practice Task that consists of showing each word printed on a card and asking that it be read aloud. If the student is able to then the tutor shows the next card. If the student is unable to then the teacher provides Recall-Practice Guidance by pointing to the sentence containing the word and asking that it be pronounced. If the student is able to read the sentence correctly, the tutor shows the word card again and asks that it be pronounced. They they go onto the next word card. When the tutorial session is over the student keeps the word cards in order to practice them some more.

GEOGRAPHY
The Recall-Knowledge objective for this part of the study of Canada is for students to know the names and locations of its provinces and territories. The target information consists of those names and their locations on a map. The teacher did not use an assessment task before beginning the map lesson, assuming that any names students did not already know, they would learn. The class has finished reading a chapter on Canada in their textbooks. The teacher asks students questions about their reading. After a while the teacher says that now they will learn the names and locations of the territories and provinces they have been talking about. The teacher uses two maps in carrying out a Rehearsal Strategy. The first is a large wall map containing the names of the territories and provinces. Students also have a map with names in their geography textbooks.

In addition each student is given two copies of a blank, outline map, without names on it.

The teacher begins with a Rehearsal Task, and asks students to use the map on the wall or in their textbooks and write the names of the provinces and territories on one copy of the blank, outline map. They are to carefully check the spelling. They are also to write the name of each location 3 or 4 times on another piece of paper as spelling practice. The teacher provides Rehearsal Guidance by walking around the room and helping students with the locations and the spelling of the names. After a while, the teacher begins using a Recall-Practice Task by covering the wall map and having students turn the copy of the blank map they wrote on and the paper where they practiced spelling the location names. They take out a second copy of the blank, outline map that they have not written on, and are given a blank piece of paper. Students work in tutorial pairs. They take turns pointing to a location on the blank map, and they both try to name and write it. If they cannot, they provide themselves Recall-Practice Guidance by turning over the maps they wrote on. They write the name a number of times on a piece of paper. The teacher provides Recall-Practice Guidance by walking around the room helping students, and keeping everyone on task. The teacher will provide short recall-practice sessions over a number of days, especially with those students having difficulty learning the names and locations.


SCIENCE
Students are studying electricity. Today's Recall Knowledge objective is for students to know the definition of a simple electric circuit, and be able to draw an example of one. The teacher beging the Rehearsal Task that has this drawing on a chart of the aactukal electric circuit the teacher has constructed on a table in the classroom.

The teacher points to the chart and says that this is a simple electric circuit, and describes its parts. The teacher has some students take turns coming to the front of the room to manipulate various parts of the actual circuit on the table to see what happens, such as disconnecting a wire between the battery and light. The teacher says that the battery is the power supply and the light is the load. There are other possible power sources, such as in this classroom the lights on the ceiling are part of the load and the power supply is the power plant a mile down the road. The wires in that circuit are carried on power poles. The teacher has students copy the drawing of the simple circuit in their science notebooks, on a page entitled Simple Electric Circuits. They are also to copy the definition of the circuit that is given on the chart. The teacher provides Rehearsal Guidance by helping students with their drawings and written definitions. Over the next several days, students in small groups carry out experiments in the science center with the electric components in a box. They are to make drawings of the simple circuits they construct, and to write why the circuits they construct are simple electric circuits. They write and draw in their science notebooks. Later the teacher provides a Recall-Practice Task that has students do two things in writing, explain what a simple electric circuit is and draw an example of one. While students write and draw, the teacher circulates around the room and provides Recall-Practice Guidance when and how it is needed.
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1. Anderson, R.C. (1970). Control of student mediating processes during verbal learning and instruction. Review of Educational Research, 40, 349-370.
2. Schoeller, A., & Pearson, D. (1970). Better reading through volunteer reading tutors. The Reading Teacher, 23, 625-636.
3. Robertson D. (1972). Children learn from children. In S. Sebesta & C. Wallen (Eds), The first R: Readings in teaching reading, (277-283). Chicago: Science Research Associates.
4. (For example). Dowhower, S.L. (1987). Effects of repeated reading on second-grade transitional readers' fluency and comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 22, 389-406.
5. (For example). Morgan, R., & Lyon, E. (1979). Paired reading--A preliminary report on a technique for parental tuition of reading-retarded children. Journal of Child Psychology, 20, 151-160

Rehearsal Strategy: Repeating

This posting will focus on Steps One and Two of a Rehearsal Strategy when the Rehearsal Task in Step One uses Repeating. Repeating is effective when target information consists of discrete items, such as a list of spelling words or the names and locations of the countries in Europe. Examples of the use of the strategy are described in the next posting.

STEP ONE: ENCODE TARGET INFORMATION
The purpose of instruction is for students to initially encode the target information in their long-term memories.

REHEARSAL TASKS (Repeating)
Rehearsal tasks for repeating are intended as explicit manifestations of students' implicit process of initially encoding discrete items of target information in their long-term memories. Having students repeat again and again the target information they just heard, read or saw is an effective method for helping them encode that information [1]. Remembering target information by repeating it over and over again is a learning method that most people use to some degree without being told how to by about 9 or 10 years of age [2]. When performing a rehearsal task that utilizes repeating, students see, hear or read the target information they are to learn, and then they reproduce, say or write it a number of times. Extensive research shows the effectiveness of repeating target information over and over [3]. Not surprisingly, students who are called on by their teacher to answer questions during a lesson get higher scores on a test for the lesson objectives than those who are not asked [4]. Frequency in asking questions is essential so that as many students as possible actively perform instructional tasks in a given period of time. For example, a study of the teaching behaviors that are correlated with middle-school students' achievement in mathematics found that students with the highest achievement scores had teachers who asked an average of 24 questions during a 50-minute period while teachers of the lowest achieving students asked an average of only 8 questions during a 50-minute period [5].

REHEARSAL GUIDANCE
The teacher uses rehearsal guidance to help as many students as possible perform a rehearsal task correctly and actively. As students perform a rehearsal task the teacher provides rehearsal guidance (a) by focusing their attention on the target information they are being helped to encode, (b) by providing confirming and corrective feedback about their performance of the rehearsal task, and (c) by keeping each of them actively engaged in performing the task.

STEP TWO: PRACTICE RETRIEVING TARGET INFORMATION
The purpose of instruction in Step Two is for students to practice retrieving the target information from their long-term memories. Instruction for a Recall-Knowledge objective is most effective when the teacher has students perform recall-practice tasks (where the purpose is retrieval of target information from long-term memory) only after having them perform rehearsal tasks (where the purpose is initially encoding the target information) [6].

RECALL-PRACTICE TASKS
Recall-practice tasks are intended as explicit manifestations of students' implicit process of retrieving target information encoded in their long-term memories. Recall-practice tasks for a Recall Knowledge objective should look like the assessment task for that objective because both are designed to cue students' retrieval of the target information for the objective from their long-term memories [7]. Recall-practice tasks are effective in helping students retrieve target information only to the degree that each student performs the tasks in an active and observable way. And, in general, the more times each student performs a recall-practice task, the more quickly he or she encodes the target information, and the longer he or she remembers it [8]. Students' active performance of recall-practice tasks is critical at all levels, from first grade [9], through college [10].

RECALL-PRACTICE GUIDANCE
As students perform recall-practice tasks, the teacher keeps everyone actively engaged in performing those tasks, focuses their attention on the target information, and confirms correct performance and corrects inadequate performances. Teachers' provision of recall-practice guidance is an interactive process of matching the specificity of their guidance with students' progressively developing ability in adequately performing recall-practice tasks. The less-adequate students' performance of the tasks, the more specific the guidance teachers provide, and the more adequate the performance, the less specific the guidance.
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1 (For example) Mayer, R.E., & Cook, L.K. (1980). Effects of shadowing on prose comprehension and problem solving. Memory & Cognition, 8, 101-109.

2. Kail, R., & Hagen;, J.W. (1982) Memory in childhood. In B.B. Wolman (Ed.), Handbook of developmental psychology. (pp. 350-366). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

3. (For example) Gates, A. (1931). An experimental comparison in the test-study methods in spelling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 22, 1-9.

Murphy, J. F., Hern, C.L., Williams, R.L., & McLaughlin, T.F. (1990). The effects of copy, cover, compare approach in increasing spelling accuracy with learning disabled students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 15, 378-386

4. Travers, R.M.W., Van Wagenen;, R.K., Haygood, D.H., & McCormick, M. (1964). Learning as a consequence of the learner’s task involvement under different conditions of feedback. Journal of Educational Psychology, 55, 167-173.

5. Evertson, C., Anderson, C., Anderson, L., & Brophy, J. (1980). Relationship between classroom behavior and student outcomes in junior high math and English classes. American Educational Research Journal, 17, 43-60.

6. (For example). Anderson, L.M., Evertson, C.M., & Brophy, J.E. (1979). An experimental study of effective teaching in first-grade reading groups. The Elementary School Journal, 79, 193-222.

7. (For example). Berliner, D., & Rosenshine, B. (1976). The acquisition of knowledge in the classroom(Tech. Report IV-1, Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study. Prepared for the California Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing). San Francisco, CA: Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development.

8. (For example). Good, T.L., & Grouws, D. (1979). The Missouri mathematics effectiveness project. Journal of Educational Psychology, 17, 355-362.

9. Beck, I.L. (1978). Instructional ingredients for the development of beginning reading competence. Pittsburgh, PA:

Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh.

10. Kulik, J.A., & Kulik, C. C. (1979). College teaching. In P.L. Peterson, & Walberg (Eds.), Research on Teaching: Concepts, findings, and implications. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.

Rehearsal Strategy

Most students spontaneously use rehearsal to some degree when attempting to memorize information, and their use of rehearsal increases in frequency as they grow older, from first grade through college [1]. Unfortunately, teachers seldom help students use rehearsal to memorize target information even when it would be very effective in helping them learn it [2]. Some students exhibit a "production deficiency" in rehearsal in that they seem to know how to use rehearsal, but they fail to apply it spontaneously in situations where its use would greatly increase their recall knowledge [3].
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SUMMARY GUIDELINES FOR USING A REHEARSAL STRATEGY

STEP ONE: ENCODE TARGET INFORMATION
Tell or show students the target information and help them tell or show it back. Provide guidance.

REHEARSAL TASK
Use one of three types of rehearsal tasks.
1. Repeating (Use with discrete pieces of target information.) Present each piece of target information to students and have them repeat it back a number of times.
2. Answering Adjunct Questions (Use with target information in discourse form.) Have all students answer adjunct questions about the target information while or after they see, or hear or read it.
3. Taking Notes (Use with written or spoken discourse.) Have all students write brief descriptions about what they are hearing or reading, and then reorganize it.
REHEARSAL GUIDANCE
While students are performing rehearsal tasks, focus their attention on the target information, and provide them confirming and corrective feedback.

STEP TWO: PRACTICE RETRIEVING TARGET INFORMATION
Have all students retrieve the target information from long-term memory repeatedly and correctly. Provide guidance.

RECALL-PRACTICE TASK
Use activities that require students to retrieve the target information frequently.
RECALL-PRACTICE GUIDANCE
During and after all students perform the recall-practice task, confirm their adequate retrieval of target information, and correct their inadequate retrieval. Vary the explicitness of guidance.

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1. (For example.) Flavell, J.H., Friedrichs, A.H., & Hoyt, J.D. (1970). Developmental changes in memorization processes. Cognitive Psychology, 1, 324-340.
2. (For example). Allred, R. (1977). Spelling: The application of research. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
3. Flavell, J.H., & Wellman, H.M. (1977). Metamemory. In R.V. Hall, Jr., & Hagen (Eds.) Perspectives on the development of memory and cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Recall Knowledge Instructional Strategies

Three empirically-based instructional strategies are effective when instructing for a Recall Knowledge objective: (1) Rehearsal Strategy, (2) Elaboration Strategy, and (3) Organization Strategy. All instructional strategies for recall knowledge consist of instructional tasks that function as explicit manifestations of the implicit cognitive processes students carry out when they encode target information in their long-term memories, and then later retrieve it from long-term memory. And all instructional strategies consist of instructional guidance that is intended to help students think their way through the implicit processes of encoding and retrieving target information.
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When using a Rehearsal Strategy the teacher helps students encode target information in long-term memory by telling and/or showing it to them, and then having them practice retrieving it from long-term memory. The way the teacher tells or shows students the target information and then has them retrieve it depends on the kind of information, whether the target information is in (a) discrete pieces (such as with the names of the provinces in Canada and with the simple electric circuit in the recall knowledge assessment tasks shown in an earlier blog), or (b) within connected discourse (such as the written discourse you are now reading).
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When using an Elaboration Strategy the teacher helps students encode together in long-term memory two kinds of information, (a) the target information they are learning, and (b) elaboration information that will help cue their retrieval of the target information from long-term memory if they are unable to retrieve it by itself. Then the teacher helps students practice retrieving the target information without the elaboration information, using the elaboration information only as a retrieval cue for the target information if they are unable to retrieve that information by itself. Eventually, students will learn to retrieve the target information from long-term memory by itself.
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When using an Organization Strategy the teacher first helps students (a) identify the target information in the connected discourse of verbal and/or visual information they are reading, or hearing, or seeing, only some of which is the target information, and (b) organize that target information around a skeletal representation that shows in an explicit, visual form the implicit relationships between and among the separate items of target information, and then (c) encode together in long-term memory the target information and skeletal representation. The skeletal representation is intended to facilitate students' retrieval of the target information from long-term memory. The teacher then helps students practice retrieving the target information without the skeletal representation, using the skeletal representation only as a means of helping students cue retrieval if they are unable to retrieve the target information by itself.
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Because this blog is intended as a concept paper rather than an extensive review of research about effective instructional strategies, only illustrative research citations are given. Where a citation is preceded by the phrase, (For example), only one citation is given out of an actual 3 to 50, or so, relevant ones.