Karl Szpunar’s new research aims to boost learning outcomes for students
Psychology professor and principal investigator of the Memory Lab (external link) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), Karl Szpunar’s newest work, In-lecture quizzes improve online learning for university and community college students (external link) , helps university and community college students learn better in online courses. It can lessen the impact of digital distractions and close achievement gaps for underrepresented groups.
Online classes have become a key part of higher education. Szpunar tested how using interpolated retrieval practice can improve learning from an online lecture for both university and community college students.
In the study, Szpunar examines how interpolated retrieval practice (IRP) might support student learning in online environments. IRP is the act of including opportunities for students to apply what they have learned through extended sequences of study. Szpunar shared, “With IRP, we introduce questions about the lecture content into the lecture itself, and students are allowed to express what they have learned before they move on in the lecture.” Unlike control conditions, where students re-study without expressing what they’ve learned, this practice increases engagement. It sets the expectation that they will soon need to explain their understanding. This shares instant feedback and helps students track and check their understanding of the material during the lecture.
Szpunar’s research also examined distraction, including TikTok. Students watched lectures with either highly distracting TikTok videos or less distracting content (e.g., static memes or none). IRP improved learning in low-distraction settings but not in high-distraction settings. Interestingly, the dynamic TikTok clips helped maintain engagement even without IRP, Szpunar noted.
Although Szpunar initially expected that IRP would reduce mind wandering, follow-up studies found that it's hard to stop mind wandering in unstructured online learning, for example, when students study from home. Despite this, the research highlighted two key takeaways. First, IRP still led to improved learning outcomes, even when mind wandering wasn’t significantly reduced. Second, a wider view of engagement, including how interested students were in the lecture and their attention levels, showed why IRP worked well. These results suggest that understanding online learning engagement requires a more comprehensive approach, rather than focusing on mind wandering alone.
The study, in collaboration with Dr. Jason Chan and his team at Iowa State University, included over 700 students from universities and community colleges in Canada and the United States. Importantly, IRP proved effective across institution types and regardless of students’ racial or socioeconomic backgrounds. Preliminary findings suggest that IRP may help reduce the achievement gap for Black students.
As educators, Szpunar notes, “we often place the onus of responsibility as it relates to attention and learning on the student. In other words, it is on the student to show up and pay attention in class or online.” However, the data suggest educators must also evaluate how materials are structured and whether they support attentive learning. Beyond Szpunar's recent findings, existing research shows that interspersing lectures and readings with opportunities for students to recall what they’ve learned can boost engagement, enhance learning, and even reduce test anxiety.
Looking ahead, Szpunar’s team is focused on refining the use of IRP in online environments and ensuring that the intervention is easy to implement at scale. More broadly, the Memory Lab at TMU is collaborating with community partners, including the Toronto Public Library, to share evidence-based study strategies with a more diverse and representative population of learners across the Greater Toronto Area. Research in cognitive psychology has shown that popular strategies like re-reading and highlighting often do not work well. In contrast, self-testing regularly boosts learning. Szpunar aims to ensure that learners have the right tools and strategies for success. Whether they are getting ready for high school exams, studying at university, or starting a new job, support is essential.