Distributed Versus Massed Practice in High School Physics
Abstract
An analysis of the effects of distributed practice in physics was undertaken. The subjects were 41 students, nearly equal numbers of males and females, in two suburban high school physics classes. All students were exposed to both massed and distributed practice on two different physics topics. The interaction of practice type with time and previous physics achievement were evaluated using a repeated measures MANOVA. A significant difference in achievement at the 0.01 level was found between the group which used distributed practice and the group which used massed practice in favor of distributed practice; the effect was stable with time, and the treatment was of benefit to both high and low achievers. The results suggest that using distributed practice in high school physics classrooms can lead to higher student achievement in physics.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The shuffling of mathematics problems improves learning
Rohrer, D., & Taylor, K. (2007) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/s11251-007-9015-8 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
The effects of overlearning and distributed practise on the retention of mathematics knowledge
Rohrer, D., & Taylor, K. (2006) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.1266 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
The science of effective learning with spacing and retrieval practice
Carpenter, S. K., Pan, S. C., & Butler, A. C. (2022) · Nature Reviews Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44159-022-00089-1 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Interleaved practice improves mathematics learning.
Rohrer, D., Dedrick, R. F., & Stershic, S. (2015) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/edu0000001 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
A Meta-Analytic Review of the Benefit of Spacing out Retrieval Practice Episodes on Retention
Latimier, A., Peyre, H., & Ramus, F. (2021) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-020-09572-8 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Chen, O., Paas, F., & Sweller, J. (2021) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-021-09613-w · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Distributed Learning in the Classroom: Effects of Rereading Schedules Depend on Time of Test
Greving, C. E., & Richter, T. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02517 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“, 2014), and distributed learning of scientific concepts and laws seems to foster long-term learning (Grote, 1995; Vlach and Sandhofer, 2012; Gluckman et al., 2014; Vlach, 2014; Kapler et al., 2015).”
BackgroundThe Distributed Practice Effect on Classroom Learning: A Meta-Analytic Review of Applied Research
Mawson, R. D., & Kang, S. H. K. (2025) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs15060771 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“For three reports (Ebersbach & Barzagar Nazari, 2020; Grote, 1995; and Barzagar Nazari & Ebersbach, 2018), outcome data could not be extracted or retrieved via contact with the authors.”
Bego, C. R., Lyle, K. B., Ralston, P. A. S., Immekus, J. C., Chastain, R. J., Haynes, L. D., Hoyt, L. K., Pigg, R. M., Rabin, S. D., Scobee, M. W., et al. (2024) · International Journal of STEM Education · doi:10.1186/s40594-024-00468-5 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
- Authors
- Grote, M. G.
- Affiliations
- Ohio Wesleyan University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Grote, Michael G.
- ORCID
- Grote, Michael G.
- Venue
- School Science and Mathematics
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1995-02
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 97-101
- ISSN
- 0036-6803 (ISSN-L)
- 1949-8594
- OpenAlex
- W2066441145
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- School Science and Mathematics (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Methods and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
- Keywords
- distributed practice, massed practice, high school physics, physics achievement, practice type, prior achievement, learning retention, physics education
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
