A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Queen Margaret University

4.3.2.3 Consolidation and rehearsal of learning - Independent learning
Following the second presentation, participants were advised that they were
allocated independent learning time (maximum of 30 minutes) to learn as many
details as they could about each creature (i.e. name, skill, habitat and food), in
whatever manner they chose. The independent learning period incorporated an
errorless learning approach to facilitate the learning of the new vocabulary. That
is, as participants could immediately check their responses to the various tasks
listed below, it reduced errorful memory traces being created. Participants could
choose to use any or all of the following options to aid their learning of the
stimuli:
- Listen to the details to be learned via a tape-recording (name, skill,
habitat and food) as many times as they wished.
- Look at the written and picture representations of the vocabulary (see
Appendix 4.7).
- Practise writing the word forms and associated meanings through
copying the above material.
- Practise semantic and syllable matching tasks that would be similar to
assessments they would later complete, reducing task artefact during
the assessment period (see Appendix 4.8).
After all tasks were described to participants the researcher left the room during
the independent learning time of 30 minutes (although participants could ask for
further direction). At the end of the independent learning period all stimuli were
removed from participants.
4.3.3 Procedure for assessment of new learning
Assessments were administered following the independent learning time to
establish how many words each participant had learned. As it would be
important to facilitate the demonstration of learning by those participants in the
main investigation who were unable to say the words accurately, a range of
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