Primary education and physical education

Research-backed benefits of distributed practice

Repetition is more effective when it’s spaced. Studying one piece of information at different times will benefit learning much more than studying all at one time, for longer.
During a study on elementary school children, students were tested on different learning schedules. Results showed that the best performance across the board happened when distributed learning was applied.
Unsurprisingly, Another study on undergraduate students found similar results. Students who reviewed class notes one week after initial learning did better by one half-letter grade on a final test, compared to students who reviewed their notes one day after initial learning.
The benefits of distributed practice can be found in a variety of areas: fact learning; problem solving; physical activity; music and more. The research in its favor is undeniable.
Wondering why?
The psychology behind distributed practice is known as the spacing effect: spaced reviews of the same information are better than repeated reviews in a short period of time.

A comparison of retention rates with and without the use of distributed practice. Source: Farnam Street There are a few reasons the spacing effect exists:

1. Priming

Priming means an initial exposure to a stimulus helps with later understanding.
The idea is similar to a priming coat of paint. The base layer makes the color go on much more easily. The same goes for learning!
When you increase the amount of practice, you get a priming effect for later learning events. This base knowledge makes learning easier in the following sessions.

2. Long-term memory consolidation

Traditional classroom learning (otherwise known as massed learning) usually only allows students to store information in short-term memory.
But when learning sessions are spaced and repeated, long-term memory is activated and learning can last longer. Students can then retrieve the information from their memories in the future.

3. Contextual differences

When learning sessions are broken up, the context surrounding them is different. Students might learn on a different day, in a different location, or from different media sources. They’ll probably receive a wide range of stimuli from different situations and encode them in their memories, associating them with what they’re learning.
Since context helps enable memory retrieval, involving more stimuli in distributed learning sessions increases contextual cues, especially since there’s more time between them. Providing more varied opportunities for memory recall helps create an environment for students to remember material better.
Note: Multimodal learning, the practice of teaching in various ways to stimulate different senses, can maximize this benefit.

4. Complex thinking

When students learn concepts through distributed practice, retrieval requires complex thought. When learning is distributed, enough time has passed that retrieval requires actual access to memory storage, not just short-term rehearsal.
Students also pay more attention when repetition is further apart, since they can’t just rely on the familiarity of something they recently learned.

5. Procedural memory

Repeating an activity enough can train your brain to automatically remember it. Eventually, you can perform certain tasks without conscious effort.
One of the most effective ways to increase the effectiveness of procedural memory is distributed practice. By spacing out learning opportunities, knowledge can become procedural.
Distributed practice requires repetition. Soon, students may be able to apply skills their procedural memories have saved from previous learning sessions.