You're looking at Less Wrong's discussion board. This includes all posts, including those that haven't been promoted to the front page yet. For more information, see About Less Wrong.

Locaha comments on Open thread for December 24-31, 2013 - Less Wrong Discussion

4 Post author: NancyLebovitz 24 December 2013 08:58AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Article Navigation

Comments (207)
Tags: open_thread

Comments (207)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Risto_Saarelma 29 December 2013 10:42:47AM *  8 points [-]

I wish someone would test spaced repetition software for high schoolers or undergrads. That even has the excuse of everyone needing a PC or a tablet to do it, and we being able to easily afford that only recently, for why it hasn't been done before. Mnemonics are great for quick low-effort cramming for remembering things overnight, but spaced repetition can be for life.

I'm having trouble coming up with any complex instruction given in schools that doesn't directly lead to being tested in an exam. Can think of very few lessons in any sort of metacognition, some half-hearted mindmap thing mostly, and none at all where a specific metacognition method was being used in concert with an actual course.

Comment author: Locaha 29 December 2013 05:26:35PM 0 points [-]

I wish someone would test spaced repetition software for high schoolers or undergrads.

Spaced repetition requires sincerity and discipline. You need to look at the question, understand it, decide just how well you remember the answer and act accordingly. And you need to do it every day.

Moreover, efficient spaced repetition, as I found, requires custom-taliored questions. You have to use your own cards.

I don't see most high schoolers adapting it.

Comment author: Risto_Saarelma 29 December 2013 06:30:02PM *  3 points [-]

If I was actually running this experiment and had ideal resources, I'd

  • Set up the students' default SRS server to be hosted by the school, and give them extra credit if they log in every day and do their daily reviews.
  • Add some automated checks to detect usage patterns that probably represent just clicking through the thing without thinking.
  • Provide a small common set of new cards to everyone based on each lecture, after the lecture. Everyone sat through the same lecture, so they can handle some of the same questions.
  • Have instruction about making good cards, and have the students make their own cards as homework at the beginning of the course. The homework exercise cards would be reviewed like any homework.
  • Would give extra credits to students for up to tripling the default deck with their own questions, which would pass some sort of spam filter check for random gibberish and a human inspection in questionable cases.

Yes, I know, overjustification effect and everything for using credit as the carrot to make the students use the system. Still, should be worth a try.

Also could just make the finished deck the "course project" which you'd submit along with doing the final exam for review, and which would contribute to your grade. So you'd want to have covered the material with good questions and have a good review profile.

Could also give students the choice between a SRS course and a regular one, where in the regular one their grade would be entirely defined by the exam, while in the SRS course points from the review of the deck they made would be added to their test score for determining the grade. "You do some random busywork and you'll get a guaranteed grade lift on that nasty calculus course."

Comment author: ChristianKl 29 December 2013 07:29:41PM 1 point [-]

Spaced repetition requires sincerity and discipline. You need to look at the question, understand it, decide just how well you remember the answer and act accordingly.

I don't think sincerity is such an issue with SRS. It's relatively easy to understand that it's unfun to have cards that you don't know at all coming up because you hit good the last time when you should have hit again.

As far as having to do it every day, I don't think that's true. If you skip a day that's not optimal and you have to answer the cards the next day. It will also be a bit harder to answer them the next day. I think that teaches something to the kid about consequences.

Powered by Reddit Powered by Reddit