How do you put that life vest on anyway?

In Dr. Robert Bjork’s video, How We Learn Versus How We Think We Learn, he used the example of the pre-flight safety briefing flight attendants give when he discussed testing as pedagogy rather than assessment. I paused the video after this example because I wanted to see if I could also remember how to put the life vest on if needed in an emergency. Coincidentally, I went out of town this past weekend and tried this during the safety briefing. I tried to remember the steps before the flight attendant to see how much I could remember. The steps came to me easily from memorization from the several times I have traveled in my lifetime, but then I thought to myself, could I or would I actually remember these steps if I had to perform them? With the added layer of possible panic, what would this look like? How do I know I can even put the vest on correctly, if I have never actually done it before? If an emergency arises, how effective would this briefing be, no matter how many times we have seen it?

This example reminds me of the testing rule that Rhodes, Cleary, and DeLosh (2020) introduce in chapter 9 that states “testing will usually be most effective when the learner produces information rather than recognizing the information” (p. 181). The studies of this rule prove that when students have to produce answers to tests, or attempt free recall, it “leads to bigger learning benefits than practicing recognition tests” (pp. 182-183).

Knowing this and going back to the example of the pre-flight safety briefings, Bjork nonchalantly throws out the idea of having practice stations in airports to give passengers that opportunity to practice what we see and hear in the pre-flight safety briefings. If we are given the chance to practice and then produce what we’ve learned, how much more effective and how much more prepared would we be? I know personally, I’d feel a lot more comfortable if I ever needed to put my life vest on. The idea of needing to put one on is scary, but the act of doing it would be one less thing to worry about during an emergency. 

This also reminds me of the Fire Drill episode of The Office when Dwight planned a fire drill for the office to test their memory of the fire drill steps, but I digress. 

Applying this rule to how I learn has been interesting. To start, applying this rule has been fairly recent for me. As recent as this course, which is an issue already. Why am I learning about testing and recall and retrieval practices as a PhD student and not during my time in the PK12 system. I can only imagine the type of student I would be now. However, practicing this rule now for class and completing the RPAs has changed the way I learn, remember, forget, and retrieve. It is still new to me, and at times I resort back to my usual ways of learning, procrastination and cramming, but as continue to practice, it will become my new way of durable and long-lasting learning and remembering. 

Rhodes, M. G., Cleary, A. M., & DeLosh, E. L. (2020) A guide to effective studying and learning: Practical strategies from the science of learning. Oxford University Press.

University of California Television. (2016 February 17). How we learn versus how we think we learn [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxZzoVp5jmI