An exploratory evaluation of precision teaching : investigating the relative importance of distributed practice and interleaved learning

• Main Author: Grace, Rachel
• Published: University of Nottingham 2015
• Subjects: 371.102
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.715121

There is an established evidence-base supporting the use of a Precision Teaching (PT) approach in schools to target, monitor, and refine teaching so as to accelerate children's learning. Despite this evidence-base, some important questions remain regarding the specific mechanisms that have been assumed to contribute to the overall effectiveness of PT. The aim of the current research study was to explore the relative importance of distributed practice and interleaved learning, two key instructional psychology principles which underpin PT. The study principally focused on the development of children's reading skills, however, as a secondary focus the research also aimed to assess the assertion that PT can enhance children's self-concept. A multiple treatment single-case experimental design (SCED) was employed and a series of six A-B-C-D SCEDs were conducted, where a separate experiment was conducted with each participant. Repeated measures were taken to assess participants' progress on a specific reading skill, their reading fluency, and their reading self-concept; this data is presented graphically and analysed using visual analysis. The results of the study demonstrate mixed results in terms of the benefits of distributed practice and interleaved learning within a PT approach. Although existing research has highlighting the effectiveness of these two strategies in the adult population and to a much lesser extent with children, the current study indicates that the effects seen in these larger scale group designs maybe more subtle in 'real-world' practice. This has implications in terms of evidence-based practice within the field of Educational Psychology and highlights the need for educational psychologists to give consideration to practice-based evidence in addition to evidence-based practice.