A Test of the Effectiveness of the Low-First Spaced Learning Method Applied to CAI

抄録

In research into CAI systems for individual instruction, various devices have been developed to select items for subsequent presentation according to individuals' answers. However, most can only be used with learning materials which have systematic or hierarchical structures. This study aims at proposing and testing a new spaced learning method which can be used for materials without such structures. The method is called "the Low-First Method", and is derived from psychological findings relating to the understanding of the cause of spacing effects in terms of changes in human memory activity. The Low-First Method is based on the following two principles : (a) sorting all the items at the end of each learning session by their weighted cumulative probabilities of recall (P_nS) in ascending order for the subsequent session; (b) omitting items whose P_nS have reached a certain level. In the experiment, 24 participants learned HTML using two different CAI systems, one based on simple repetition and the other on the Low-First Method. The results showed that the Low-First Method was not only more effective but also more time efficient than the simple repetition method.