Distribution Practices Research Articles

Mobile Training Context for In-Service Teachers

Mobile training is one of the modern training systems resulting from the integration of innovations in information and communication technology (ICT), which can be used to solve the problems of traditional training in educational institutions. Therefore, it is important to study the design variables of such training that enhance its effectiveness. Thus, the present study aims to design a mobile training context (MTC) and to investigate the effect of interaction between the training method, i.e., whole task (WT) versus part task (PT), and the task practice method, i.e., massed practice (MP) versus distributed practice (DP), on the skills of e-content production of 52 public education teachers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, through using the semi-experimental approach and the factorial design (2 × 2). Furthermore, an application-oriented knowledge test was used to measure the participant teachers’ skills through their application of 208 items related to e-content design, production, and publishing. Findings showed the effectiveness of part-task training (PTT) compared to whole-task training (WTT) and the effectiveness of the massed practice method (MPM) compared to the distributed practice method (DPM). In addition, there was a preference for the massed practice for part-task (MPPT) treatment in comparison to other treatments. This result encourages the possibility of providing a successful MTC for training in different skills. However, further research is still required to optimize the expected future potential of the mobile training context.

The effects of massed and distributed drills, muscle strength, and intelligence quotients towards tennis groundstroke skills of sport students

Background and Study Aim. Basic forehand and backhand technical skills are the main requirements that must be mastered in playing tennis. Physical condition and intellectual intelligence were found to be the factors that affect the quality of tennis. On the other hand, limited learning time, and the number of teaching staff and facilities are classic challenges in the implementation of learning. This study describes the different effects of massed and distributed exercise, arm strength, and intellectual on the forehand and backhand skills of sports students.
 Material and Methods. A quasi-experimental method with two group pretest and posttest design approached the 64 volunteers of male sports students (age 19.3±1.7, BMI 20.17±1.47), who had attended the tennis course. The sample is divided into 2 groups of Massed Practices (MP) and Distributed Practices (DP) according to the score of the upper-arm strength and intelligence test. The anthropometrics were evaluated through digital microtome stature, the arm strength was evaluated with a push-up test and the kinesthetic perception was confirmed with the intelligence quotient (IQ) test. The prerequisite test employed Kolmogorov-Smirnov, while Bivariate analysis utilized the Independent Sample T-test and Paired Sample T-test of the SPSS 20.0 version.
 Results. The study showed that MP and DP had different positive contribution values to the tennis drive (p=0.003, p<0.05), while distributed gave a better contribution to the tennis drive with a significant value (p=0.001, p<0.05). The high arm muscle strength provides high accuracy in groundstroke (p=0.003, p<0.05), also for the high score on the intelligence test significantly affect the accuracy of tennis strokes (p=0.000, p<0.05).
 Conclusions. The results showed that there are differences in exercise methods, arm muscle strength, and intelligence quotient against tennis drive punches.

Distribution of Practice and Retroactive Inhibition in Free-Recall Learning

Two successive lists of words were learned under conditions of either massed practice (MP) where all six trials were presented on a single day or distributed practice (DP) where participants received two trials on each of 3 successive days. The two lists were learned under either the same or different conditions of practice; two control groups learned a single list by either MP or DP. Recall was 72 hr after completion of List-1 learning. DP on the first list improved recall of that list for all groups including the control groups. DP on the second list increased retroactive inhibition. Several possible interpretations of the results are discussed. It is suggested that the use of long (e.g., 24-hr) distribution intervals produces an effect different from the one encountered with short intervals (e.g., several min) and the spacing effect.

Response Availability as a Function of Massed and Distributed Practice and List Differentiation

Three hypotheses which offer different explanations for the facilitation in retention following distributed practice (DP) of the last in a series of A-B, A-C lists were investigated. In order to evaluate the theories, subjects were trained by massed practice (MP) and DP on both lists of an A-B, A-C paradigm. Also, subjects were trained on differentiated and non-differentiated lists. Superior retention as a function of list differentiation was not found. The suppression and recovery of prior associations was evident, and is in line with the extinction-recovery position originally put forth by Underwood (1970). The data indicate that extinction recovery and mediational devices may both be operational in the superior retention of DP-trained items.

Isolation of massed- and distributed-practice items

In four experiments, massed-practice (MP) or distributed-practice (DP) items were isolated from other items in a list presented either visually or auditorially for free recall. For three independent groups, the first, second, or both presentations of an item were isolated. Locus of isolation had a marginal influence on recall. When MP items were isolated, they were recalled better than DP items. Isolating the DP items enhanced the MP-DP effect. The results are congruent with the idea that the MP-DP effect in free recall results, in part, from differential rehearsal.

Effects of Practice Distribution on Learning a Fine Motor Task

Abstract Sixty college men were given 35 trials of either distributed practice (DP) or massed practice (MP) (N = 30 per group) on a fine motor learning task, the foot tracking task. The study was designed to make a direct comparison between the two groups of the amount learned. While learning was significant for both groups, there was no difference in the amount learned between groups. As expected, performance was significantly better under DP; this was attributed to the temporary depressant effects of Ir resulting from MP. The present results are in general agreement with the findings of a number of recent learning studies on gross motor tasks; almost without exception they reported that practice distribution affected performance but not learning. Thus, the traditionally accepted belief that DP is superior to MP in motor learning is not supported by experimental evidence. These findings present practical implications for motor learning in terms of efficiency in the use of practice time.

Efficiency of Learning as a Function of Practice Schedule and Initial Ability

2 groups of 50 Ss practiced a pursuit rotor skill under different schedules of practice. A massed practice (MP) group (40 sec. work, 20 sec. rest) performed just as well as a distributed practice (DP) group (20 sec. work, 20 sec. rest) on the first day of practice. However, after 24 hr. of interpolated rest MP Ss demonstrated significantly greater amounts of learning. A further analysis of the 15 high initial ability and 15 low initial ability Ss from each of the two main groups resulted in no statistical differences among these subgroups in Day 1 performance that could be attributed to the practice schedules; however, a significant Ability Level × Practice Schedule interaction was obtained for Day 2 performance. It was caused by the low ability Ss under MP learning relatively more than the high ability Ss under MP when compared to the two DP groups. Thus learning was seen as being a function not only of schedule of practice but also of initial ability level.

A reconsideration of the extinction-recovery theory

The extinction-recovery theory, which has been offered to account for the superior retention of paired-associate lists learned under distributed practice (DP), was tested in three experiments. These studies showed that (a) prior-list availability is unaffected by DP, (b) the DP effect is largely due to increased availability, and (c) a DP effect can occur under conditions of minimal interlist interference. These findings were considered severely damaging to the theory. The results of these and other studies were interpreted in terms of the operation of a selection process by which DP Ss are able to acquire a collection of relatively stable and strong associations.

Distributed practice in short-term memory

The similarity of short-term memory (STM) to long-term memory (LTM) and acquisition (ACQ) was assessed in terms of the operation of common variables, massed (MP) and distributed practice (DP). Two basic transfer paradigms, A-C and C-B, were used to identify the nature of the interference among four transfer pairs in experimental lists. Control lists were designed so that interpair interference was at a minimum. The first and fourth pairs within each list were presented twice under MP (0 sec) or DP (24 sec) conditions and tested after 0, 15, or 45 sec. In both paradigms, recall of pair four under DP was significantly superior to recall under MP at retention intervals of 15 and 45 sec, irrespective of type of list construction (experimental or control). This result indicates that DP in STM does not operate in an analogous way to DP in LTM or ACQ. Proactive interference was shown to be a major variable in producing decrements associated with STM.

Response availability and conditions of interpolated practice

This experiment tested the hypothesis that facilitation in retention following distributed practice (DP) of the last in a series of A-B, A-C lists is the result of the greater unlearning of prior-list associations. To test this notion, prior-list availability was determined by means of an unpaced free-recall test given at the end of last-list learning for the massed-practice (MP) and DP conditions. The hypothesis was not supported, since there was nearly identical recall of the prior lists by the MP and DP groups. Reasons for these negative results were discussed and alternative explanations were considered.

Facilitation in short- and long-term retention of paired associates following distributed practice in learning

Summary Four experiments tested an hypothesis offered by Underwood, et al. (1962) which states that distributed practice (DP) given during the learning of the last in a series of A-B, A-C, A-D, A-E lists allows for greater extinction of prior associations from the first three lists, resulting in higher retention when the last list is learned under DP than under massed practice (MP). For the first three experiments, DP was administered on the last list and consisted of three 24-hour intervals interpolated between pairs of trials. In Exps. 1 and 1a, the four lists formed an A-C paradigm, while in Exp. 2 the lists formed an A-Br paradigm, where the lists consisted of four successive pairings of stimulus and response terms. In Exp. 1 retention was taken after 1 and 8 days, in Exp. 1a, after 29 days, for DP only, and in Exp. 2, after 8 days. In Exp. 3, the short-term retention of the last in a series of single paired associates, forming an A-B, A-C, etc. paradigm, was studied. Retention was taken either 30 or 90 sec following the final presentation of the last pair; the interval between successive presentations of the last pair was either 4 1/2 sec (MP) or 33 sec (DP). Retention of List 4 after 1 day was 89 and 31% and after 8 days, 72 and 7% for the DP and MP groups, respectively, in Exp. 1; and after 29 days, 34% for the DP group in Exp. 1a. These results indicate marked superiority in the retention of List 4 following learning under DP. In Exp. 2, employing the A-Br paradigm, the DP effect, defined in terms of the difference in retention loss for the DP and MP groups, was 2.58 items, this difference being half that obtained for the same conditions in Exp. 1 for the A-C paradigm (5.11 items). These results required the modification of the theory of Underwood et al. to include the forward and backward associations under conditions of widely spaced DP intervals. In Exp. 3, after both retention intervals, retention was superior for the DP condition. The results of this experiment extend the applicability of the extinction-recovery theory to the short-term retention of single paired associates.