Spaced Learning vs Mass Learning

Better memory is where a person can remember things accurately and with no effort used. This nature, therefore, helps that individual to be efficient in his or her daily life which entirely helps in achieving the goals of life. One basis requirement to learn something new in practice. The practice involves two main approaches to learning. These are massed learning and spaced learning. Teachers or professors main focus is to assure the students of new knowledge and skills; however, new information sometimes can easily slip from a student’s mind. According to an article by Custers, even medical students forget about 25% to 35% of basic science knowledge after one year and almost 50% in the following year (2010). Because of this, there are many concerns about the academic performances of a student.

Most students do not know how to strategize their study habits. Learning and memory play a massive role when it comes to studying for tests and exams in school. In another article, Benjamin and Bird showed that participants would only space harder items. For the easier items, the participants used massing. Knowing the two approaches to learning is important. This is because different people learn best with varying approaches. It is, therefore, necessary for the tutor to get equipped with these two approaches such that he or she can appropriately use when necessary to ensure high-quality learning. The main purpose of this research is to study the relationship between the students’ academic performance and the students’ way of learning (spaced or massed).

Other variables will be tested such as stress level, time-management skills, and self-monitoring. In this study, the hypothesis concluded is if a student engages in spaced learning and good time-management skills, the student will have lower stress level and higher academic performance. On the other hand, if a student engages in massed learning and poor time-management skills, the student will have higher stress level and lower academic performance. Methods Participants Fifty college students participated in the study. 4 of the questions were demographical questions while the rest measured the independent and dependent variables. The questions in the survey such as, “Do you set and keep priorities?” were measured by answering in a scale of 1-5 (Definitely yes – Definitely no). Other questions such as, “I often find myself performing tasks that I had intended to do days before” were measured by answering in a scale of 1-5 (Strongly agree – Strongly disagree).

Procedures The questionnaire was available online through Qualtrics. The researcher first distributed the questionnaire through a class of at least 20 people through a link from Qualtrics. 374, p =. For the rate of wasting time and the rate of using constructive use of time, it was found that there was a negative significance correlation (r(50) = -. 317, p =. For the rate of academic performance and the rate of any of the independent variables, there was no statistical significance. Table 1 Descriptive Frequency of Gender Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Male 19 38. Such individuals may have a lot of knowledge on a given field, for instance, but fail to put it into practice in the real world. In spaced learning, there are always schedules created which includes delivery of knowledge, provision of a classical example, repetition of concept then a proper evaluation is done.

Depending on the amount of knowledge delivered in a scheduled time, students can be given further evaluation after which they will have ample time for self-evaluation. This is almost similar to the program in elementary school – and surely almost all students who pass through elementary school do not forget about alphabet, pronunciations and numbers they learn during this stage of life. Spaced learning requires a lot of time to occur. Time management is a key virtue and skill that can be easily acquired by students in spaced learning. Most offices require the skill in the performance of day to day activities and service delivery to their clients. The manner in which activities are conducted precisely in the stipulated time leads to the development of the skill in institutions (Son, 2010).

When individuals go through such a system, they become reliable people at their places of work. Setting of priorities is one way in which individuals can eliminate procrastination. When their deadlines elapse, students have no option but to adhere to the newly assigned one. As this occurs, they become well aware and enlightened that students have to beat deadlines and submit their activities in time (Menzel et al, 2001). The study may, however, become slightly ineffective in exhausting the benefits and costs of each of the learning methods. Massed learning utilizes a short time to learn a bulk whereas spaced learning requires a long time for learning less content. The study should focus on testing the effectiveness each of the learning methods when the time allocated is the same or when the amount of content to be learned is similar for both.