In part 2 we discussed the importance of classroom climate. That conversation moved to discussing “Corrective Feedback” with CRM as Ben Windsor @MrClassics3 moved to extend the deck, extend the breadth of knowledge he used CRM to deliver, and that he expected his learners to learn, know and remember. This conversation moved to discuss “How to preserve the culture shift” and the gains made in the opening 2-3 weeks of teaching with CRM, “in the face of new challenges.” Part 3 beefed up quickly with live references made daily from Ben’s teaching so it was then split into Parts 3 and Parts 4. The “what” and “how,” rather conveniently leading us to a final Part 5 – elaborative interrogation with CRM.
Noting that the summer term will enable Ben, and a handful of other invested teachers, to road test the recently recent release of an adaptive RememberMore app along side CRM. A system that enables teachers to leverage the direct and indirect benefits of Successive Relearning. Hold onto your seats…
Successive Relearning with both classroom.remembermore.app (CRM) and more recently the RememberMore app, is designed to promote a positive and secure learning climate and leverage learner success to generate learner confidence and application. Simple – CRM makes learning tangible to learners. Learners thrive with success. The CRM chemistry leveraging both direct and indirect testing effects, led Ben to frame these summative benefits as the Deadpool Effect. An idea that is still morphing though it is more final draft than third or forth iteration.
Two parts psychological security (the correct answer is always provided) + one part student agency (self-marking and correction) + one part low stakes (retrieval not assessment) = Deadpool Effect.
Credit to Ben Windsor
The Deadpool Effect being the ethos and climate that encourages our students to learn more, know more and readily apply themselves in lessons more fully as a result Successive Relearning with CRM (and more recently RM app).
Psychological Safety and Student Agency vs Desirable Difficulties
We know that high success rates and corrective feedback are incredibly important to direct benefits of retrieval practice (I dare say the indirect metacognitive benefits also).
“…although failed retrieval attempts may show modest memorial benefits (e.g., Kornell, Hays, & Bjork, 2009), retrieval practice is particularly efficacious when retrieval attempts during encoding are successful (e.g., Karpicke & Roediger, 2007; Pyc & Rawson, 2007, 2011).”
Teaching (more instruction than teaching) with CRM encourages high success rates; tags promote retrieval and enable simplified questioning. It is very flexible, with Reorder recently added to make success even more attainable. Success is unavoidable, it is baked in. CRM is not “an assessment,” nor is it “quizzing,” as the correct response is always shown. Learners know and expect it. As teachers, we teach learners to pay attention to it, we teach them how to use it. Successive Relearning, re-exposure to the correct answer – is corrective feedback. Of note, is that is also available to the teacher – for further elaborative interrogation and teaching.
It is also important to maintain a level of challenge and CRM offers a number of options; number of questions, mode, time, as well as the ability to increase the deck or breadth of content that the prompts are drawn from. That is the ultimate aim – for students to know more, so the deck will always, eventually, be extended. Importantly, in managing this extension over a week or two, Ben offered warning of a few important pitfalls to be aware of.
Once you have built momentum, protect it. How we feedback while using CRM, particularly after extending a deck and introducing new content / unfamiliar questions is a time for caution.
Interleave the new with the old.
- Small increments. (Use Reorder rather than Refresh)
- More time (and encouragement) to “think hard” during the practice.
- Pre-warn the students – mitigate expectations.
- Extend the feedback session.
- We should note here that the RememberMore app is adaptive and offers all these minor adjustments and more, at an individual learner level.
Having gradually extended the deck, I was now widening the question deck to include all 7 Roman Kings – some 100 questions. A significant breadth of knowledge. Mixing the old with the new content is so simple with CRM. I then pre-warned the students and reset the expectations of both their approach and expected success.
“Some questions may be unfamiliar, some of you may not have answers to ‘all’ the questions…”
“You may already have seen some of these questions before today – that’s exactly the point. We build upon your knowledge.”
“We will find the answers together, just continue to think hard.”
“You may see your scores dip – this should be expected. But don’t be disheartened. You’ve already seen what you’re able to do.”
There is no hiding from it, working with CRM requires a front investment. However, once you have access to the deck, plus the benefit of all the curriculum thinking that goes into defining and design a deck, the dividends and repayment far exceeds your investment. Not only that – it ensures you deliver and re-delivery, the content you intended.
One of the key responsibilities of the teacher, teaching with CRM, is to protect and preserve learner confidence. A difficult line is trodden between increasing challenge, and maintaining the psychological security that is so ingrained in the processes.
Cross-posted with Ben Windsor – @MrClassics3