Research School Network: Retrieval Practice: Higher-order Thinking How can we ensure retrieval practice moves beyond factual recall?

Mark Miller is Director of Bradford Research School

Professor Rob Coe poses 3 possible challenges to the effectiveness of retrieval practice in this EEF blog.

• Teachers might generate retrieval questions that focus solely on factual recall (these questions are easier to generate) rather than requiring any higher-order thinking.

• Questions might be too easy and boost confidence without providing real challenge, which is likely to be a key ingredient for generating the kind of learning hoped for.
• Teachers might allocate too much time to the quizzes, effectively losing the time they need to cover new material.

In a new blog series, we’ll look at these challenges. Today we ask how we can ensure ​‘higher-order thinking’ with retrieval.

Factual recall

It’s important to start by saying that the vast majority of the evidence in this area focuses on factual recall. Examples of this include times tables and vocabulary learning. However we conceive of that notion of higher-order thinking, knowledge is a prerequisite.

So factual knowledge is necessary, but not sufficient, for success. For example, a pupil who may be able to recall quotations from Romeo and Juliet might still struggle to use them in an essay. A good question to ask is ​‘how will this knowledge transfer into the context in which it is used?’ Without careful thought, the transfer may not happen.

This is one way to consider ​‘higher-order’ thinking – the ability to transfer the knowledge into the final context, often an exam. We can also see ​‘higher-order’ thinking in terms of schema development, how pupils build their knowledge and connections between this knowledge into a rich understanding of the domain.

Agarwal (2019)¹ writes: ​‘If we want to reach the top of Bloom’s taxonomy, building a foundation of knowledge via fact-based retrieval practice may be less potent than engaging in higher order retrieval practice at the outset.’ The evidence would suggest that a mixture of factual retrieval with ​‘higher-order’ retrieval is best.

Retrieve….and?

A simple switch to our mindset around retrieval is to move from simple retrieval to what we might call ​‘retrieve-and’ or ​‘retrieve-then.’ Retrieve and elaborate; retrieve and connect; retrieve then apply.

When we elaborate on material, we connect it to other knowledge. Elaborative interrogation – simply asking how and why- is a good way of doing this. Imagine a pupil correctly recalls the fact that the skeleton keeps the body upright and provides a framework for muscle attachment. We can ask: How does the skeleton keep the body upright? Why does the skeleton keep the body upright? How do muscles attach to the skeleton? Why do muscles attach to the skeleton? 

Not only does this make the material stick, but it also helps to build those connections and links that form part of the well-organised schema. And this makes it more likely that there will be a transfer to the context in which the knowledge will be used. And it’s also useful to identify gaps and misconceptions.

There are many general approaches to elaboration that can help move beyond simple factual retrieval. How does x relate to y? What else do I know about this? What else do I know that can relate to this? How do we know this? Every time we elaborate in this way, we build or strengthen schemas.

Because, but, so

There are also simple language tweaks we can use to facilitate elaboration and further thinking. The ​‘because, but, so’ technique used in The Writing Revolution is one way we have adapted this in some of our schools. Look at the definitions below. A typical retrieval task might begin with the definitions and ask pupils to recall the term. With a tiny change, we prompt deeper thinking: A window would be described as __________ because…; A window is transparent but a _________ is opaque.; A ________ is waterproof so…. These are still retrieval, but the small adjustment allows for deeper thinking. ​‘Retrieve-and’…

See a great example of this in Tom Needham’s blog here.

These are just some of the simple adjustments we might make to help promote that high-order thinking. There are many more. It’s also worth remembering that retrieval happens in all sorts of contexts – it won’t always be in a Do Now or in a morning meeting. And in many of these contexts, such as writing an exam answer, retrieval is being combined with higher order thinking in any case.

As we design our curriculum, and curate the knowledge that we want our pupils to know, we need to be thinking about the application of that knowledge. If we have lists of knowledge that cannot be elaborated upon, or connected, then there is an argument that it is not particularly useful knowledge at all. So we should always think with the end in mind.

¹Agarwal, P. K. (2019). Retrieval practice and Bloom’s taxonomy: Do students need fact knowledge before higher order learning?