Loading...
Using Principles of Cognitive Science as a Framework for Retrieval Practice in A Level Psychology
Lees, Amy
Lees, Amy
Files
Citations
Altmetric:
Authors
Editors
Date
2025
Educational Level
ISCED Level 3 Upper secondary education
Curriculum Area
Geographical Setting
England
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Abstract
Background and purpose: The linearisation of A Level Psychology require students to recall and apply knowledge from the entire course in one set of final exams, this means that students need effective strategies to retain information over a longer period and the need for sustained revision techniques has become more critical.
Aims: The aim of the inquiry was to formalise and strategically provide students with retrieval practice over a 30-week period with the goal to improve outcomes in exams using 4 principles outlined by Cattrell (2024; Educational Endowment Foundation). The cognitive science principles used to inform these activities include tasks that engage the long-term memory (LTM), are challenging, are repeated and have opportunities for feedback.
Design or methodology: A long-term strategy for retrieval was devised which coordinated with mock exams, this involved breaking down the academic year into weeks, providing students with past paper questions to assess knowledge and weekly assignments to be uploaded to Teams.
Findings: In order to assess the effectiveness of the retrieval activities the current 2025 (n=64) cohort sat the same mock exam paper sat by the previous cohort in 2024 (n = 38). Findings indicate that there was an 11% increase in the average assessment outcome following the implementation of the retrieval plan with the average score increasing to 54% from 43%. The results revealed a statistically significant difference in exam scores (U = 818.5, p < 0.05) for a one-tailed test demonstrating that the use of retrieval activities significantly improved outcomes on assessments for Psychology students.
Conclusions, originality, value and implications: The assessment outcomes and student feedback demonstrate the effectiveness of the retrieval plan and therefore will continue to be implemented. Designing a retrieval plan requires consideration to ensure that activities are engaging the LTM in a consistently challenging format where opportunities for feedback are provided to ensure misconceptions do not become embedded.
Description
Keywords (free text)
A-level Psychology, retrieval practice, revision, long-term memory, retention