A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Queen Margaret University

Fifty four percent of participants recalled 50% or more of the alien names
whereas all 65 (100%) participants demonstrated this learning when given
additional information using the multiple-choice task. The skills were easier to
recall, with 89% of participants recalling 75% or more skills compared to 31% of
names recalled.
Table 3.7
Preliminary Study Four
Performance of participants on assessment tasks
Recall names Recall skills Multiple-choice
(%)
(%) names (%)
Number of
correct items
15-20 20 (31) 58 (89) 60 (92) 65 (100)
Multiple-choice
skills (%)
10-14 15 (23) 6 (9) 5 (8) 0 (0)
5-9 18 (28) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
0-4 12 (18) 1 (2) 0 (0) 0 (0)
As discussed (see section 3.2.2.2) the multiple-choice task requires a reduced
level of learning (recognition of the stimuli) than cold recall tasks. However, all
participants scored well above chance (92% identifying between 15 and 20
names and 8% identifying between 10-14 names) and all participants identified
between 15 and 20 skills. As Table 3.7 indicates these recognition scores were
well above the initial recall scores therefore the multiple-choice task proved a
more effective facilitator of memory recall (albeit a demonstration of a less depth
of learning) than cold recall tasks.
3.5.3 Discussion
Although this was not a controlled study (i.e. participants sat side-by-side within
a classroom setting), it demonstrated that none of the alien names and skills
could be guessed from their images alone. The study also provided further data
on learning a larger number of stimuli with a greater number of participants.
Additionally, a combination of independent learning and controlled learning was
introduced during this study allowing students to choose their preferred learning
strategies. In contrast to preliminary studies one and two, the names of the
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