Effect of Distributed Practice vs Massed Practice on Learning: Lab Report Assignment

LAB REPORT ASSIGNMENT 1
Lab Report Assignment,
Student’s Name
Name of the Tutor
Submission Dates

LAB REPORT ASSIGNMENT 2
ABSTRACT
In the contemporary world, the education sector is faced with a critical decision on when
and how to access the study information. In this study, 239 participants out of 274 participants
were involved in the online assessment to determine superiority of the distributed practice
strategy of learning as opposed to massed practice strategy. The study was designed into two
parts where the first part was done in 5 minutes and it involved the distribution of the two study
types into the participants. Half of the participants were allocated distributed whereas the other
half was given massed practice strategy. The second part involved the participants to take 25
minutes in multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank tests. The performances in the two tests were
recorded correctly and the data were compared and evaluated to assess the two hypotheses of the
study. The study finally found that the distributed practice contribute greatly to the higher overall
performance of the participants in the two tests. The study also concluded that participants under
massed practice achieved better in the multiple choice trial as compared to the fill-in-the-blank
test. They also did well in the multiple choice tests compared to how the distributed practice
participants performed.

LAB REPORT ASSIGNMENT 3
INTRODUCTION
Literature Review
The education system is faced by the critical decision of how and when to study
information. The timing of the study and its effects on the memory retention has been the topic
under research for many decades (Carpenter, Capeda, Rohrer, Kang& Pashler. 2012). In regard
to this two learning strategies namely; distributed and massed practices have been researched to
establish their effects in learning on the basis of retention and retrieval of the studied knowledge.
Distributed practice or spaced strategy is a learning technique, in which learning is
distributed into a several short sittings over a long span of time. According to Rohrer and Taylor.
(2006)Human beings and animals learn things more effectively when they are in several sessions
over a long span of time. According to Stanger. (2012) each time the brain encounters a new
item during the review, there is a mental attempted retrieval, and if the retrieval is successful the
memory becomes more resistant for forgetting. In spaced practice, gaps between the learning
items make the retrieval effortful, hence benefiting the memory.
Massed practice, on the other hand, involves studying once over a large period of time. A
good example is studying overnight for in a preparation of an exam the following day. Massed
practice, in general, is done less frequently, but for large periods of time. Yang, Potts& Shanks.
(2018) stated that while this practice may be efficient, and in most cases capable of assisting
student pass an exam, it is not a greater solution for long-term. Information memorized this way
is forgotten once the exam is over. This strategy has been recorded to have been giving a long
impression in the professional environment. The strategy has been for many years used as a

LAB REPORT ASSIGNMENT 4
survival mechanism for students who are caught by the time during exams session (Rohrer
&Taylor 2006).
Rohrer. (2016), in his research also reported a significant connection of the massed
practice to higher performance in the multiple choice questions. He attributed that students who
practice massed strategy in mathematics tests performed slightly higher than their peers who
were practising distributed strategy. This finding was, however, not justifiable because the
research did not explain the reason behind the finding. There was no any clear link that
connected the two variables hence this finding has been over the years challenged by a number
of researchers.
Rohrer and Taylor (2006), further stated that there is no intellectual capacity that is very
significant than the ability to learn and retain the information. The advantages of education are
mostly lost when the material is not remembered. Any learning criterion should be judged by
participants’ performance of retention of the content. According to Haq et al. (2015), Distributed
practice is preferably better than the massed or overlearning technique in the students'
understanding and retention of the mathematics content. He associated this benefit with the
phenomena called the spacing effect, which is very important in the human being when it comes
to learning. Carpenter, Capeda, Rohrer, Kang& Pashler. (2012) associated the spacing effect
benefits to the longer spacing gaps between the sessions of learning.
Learning in this regard requires critical thinking skills. Fill-in-the-blank and multiple
question tests do not require the same level of higher level thinking skills. The previous test is
associated with a higher level of thinking hence it engage the participants in reasoning. This in
return leads to great retention and retrieval of the information. The latter strategy is associated
with memorization among the participants. This strategy discourages mental retrieval among the