Combining two elearning techniques to promote learning outcomes
Creating engaging learning content that motivates learners to complete their courses is only one part of achieving learning success. The second is achieving strong knowledge retention so that your audience doesn’t forget much of what they’ve learned by the time the course is over. Fostering retention and recall is essential for learners to feel that your learning content made an impact in their professional or academic journeys and, therefore, be motivated to take more of your courses. An approach that seems to be successful in accomplishing this goal is to combine spaced repetition and retrieval practice. While effective on their own, using these elearning techniques in tandem can unlock next-level learning outcomes for your audience.
In this article, we’ll explore what each technique involves, how you can combine them, and, most importantly, the benefits you can expect.
Explanation of spaced repetition and retrieval practice
What is distance repetition?
Spaced iteration involves revising information over time, ensuring that review sessions occur at increasingly longer intervals. In other words, instead of covering all the information in one study session, learners are encouraged to revisit key concepts after a day, a week, a month or a year. This method is effective because it prompts learners to revisit and re-establish what was learned just as if they were about to forget it. This relearning process is what increases memory retention and makes it easier to recall information later.
Activities you can include in your elearning course to support the repetition that occurs can include the following:
- Scheduling review quizzes at increasing time intervals.
- Creating short microlearning modules that restate key concepts.
- Using an algorithm that adjusts the review schedule depending on learning performance.
What is the recovery process?
Retrieval practice describes the process of actively recalling previously learned information from memory. Basically this is what learners are expected to be able to do after finishing the learning module or revision material. By attempting to recall information rather than merely passively reviewing it, as is done in spaced repetition, learners strengthen neural pathways, and help transfer knowledge to long-term memory. This is what will ultimately improve the retention and application of knowledge in real-life situations.
You can implement the recovery process through activities that most of us are familiar with, such as:
- Completing tests and quizzes.
- Learners are testing themselves using flashcards.
- Answering scenario-based questions or reflections that encourage learners to explain concepts in their own words.
How can you combine these techniques?
Now that we know what these two learning techniques involve and how they can be used in a learning environment, you may be wondering how to combine them. Some practical ways in which you can do this are as follows:
- Incorporate knowledge retrieval sessions into the learning course, devoting them at gradually increasing intervals.
- Use adaptive algorithms that adjust intervals between retrieval sessions according to learner performance and confidence levels.
- Add pop-up prompts and quizzes to your content to encourage learners to actively recall information during review.
- Provide feedback after each retrieval attempt to correct errors and reinforce the key path.
4 Benefits of Mixing Spaced Repetition and Retrieval Exercise
In previous sections, we have mentioned several times that combining the processes of spaced repetition and retrieval increases knowledge retention, recall, and transfer. Here, we will also talk about how it is achieved.
Increases long-term retention
An important benefit of combining these learning strategies is that they have a positive effect on long-term retention. In particular, spaced learning sessions put learners in a position to revise information just as they begin to forget it, as described in the forgetting curve model. At this critical moment, retrieving information from long-term memory is most trying but extremely rewarding. This approach reinforces memory traces and significantly strengthens retention compared to a CRAM session.
Improves knowledge transfer
Another advantage of mixing spaced repetition and retrieval practice is that it gives learners multiple opportunities to practice what they have learned. Each time learners retrieve or review information, they approach it from a different stage of their learning journey or professional routine. As a result, they can apply the information in new or different contexts. This is particularly beneficial for learners’ problem-solving skills, as they learn to be more flexible in applying newly acquired knowledge.
Promotes engagement and motivation
It is important for learners to be motivated and engaged throughout their learning journey. This is easy to achieve by providing frequent, bite-sized retrieval activities that encourage learners to review information and complete additional modules. These learning reminders also create measurable progress milestones for learners. Whether they successfully complete an activity or realize they remember less than they should, learners are motivated to learn more or revise the training resources to address any gaps. Ultimately, their ability to recall information will improve, leading to a sense of accomplishment and increased confidence.
Supports skill learning
A final reason to consider combining distance repetition and retrieval is to help learners achieve a higher level of understanding of a given topic. Mastery learning, as this approach is known, encourages learners to fully understand a subject before moving on to the next. When learners regularly return to learning content, instructors and learning platforms can easily identify knowledge gaps and systematically address them. In this way, learners are more likely to acquire real skills rather than superficial learning, ensuring that they can effectively recall and apply what they have learned.
The result
Combining spaced repetition and retrieval practice shows the effects of blending simple activities that you may already be providing to your audience. These approaches emphasize that the best results come from treating learning as an iterative process rather than a one-time event. Incorporating blending activities, like the ones we’ve described in this article, will help you not only engage learners, but also help them understand, retain, and recall their knowledge. This, in turn, will guarantee a more effective application of newly acquired knowledge and overall more effective learning strategies.
