DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cnp5hqck8
title: U-Behavior: A method to promote spaced and interleaved retrieval practice in challenging undergraduate microbiology and biomedical sciences courses

description: The underlying data for this study consist of anonymized student
 performance metrics, retrieval practice activity (RPA) usage logs
 (including timestamps of quiz attempts, scores, spacing intervals, and
 mixing patterns), UB-rubric scores, demographic descriptors (aggregated
 only), and exam/retention test scores from two undergraduate courses:
 Introduction to Biomedical Sciences (VMBS 100) and General Microbiology
 (MIP 300). These data were extracted from the university's learning
 management system (LMS) and course records. No raw individual-level data
 are shared due to privacy protections under institutional review board
 (IRB) guidelines and FERPA regulations; all analyses use de-identified,
 aggregated, or summarized forms.
description: # U-Behavior: A method to promote spaced and interleaved retrieval
 practice in challenging undergraduate microbiology and biomedical sciences
 courses Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.cnp5hqck8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cnp5hqck8) ##
 Description of the data and file structure This dataset contains
 anonymized, aggregated, and processed student learning behavior and
 performance data collected to evaluate the effectiveness of the U-Behavior
 teaching and learning method—a pedagogy tool designed to promote
 evidence-based study strategies (spaced retrieval practice and
 interleaving) in undergraduate STEM courses. Data were gathered from two
 quasi-/randomized controlled experiments conducted at a large land-grant
 university in the Western United States. Experiment 2 (randomized
 assignment) involved first-year students in Introduction to Biomedical
 Sciences (VMBS 100), a gateway course for biomedical sciences majors.
 Experiment 3 (quasi-experimental, section-level assignment) involved
 junior-level students in General Microbiology (MIP 300), a foundational,
 content-intensive course required for microbiology majors and related STEM
 programs. In both experiments, students used identical online retrieval
 practice activities (RPAs; low-stakes quizzes drawn from large question
 pools) accessible via the learning management system (LMS) throughout the
 semester. The control condition received standard low-stakes quizzing
 instructions, while the U-Behavior treatment condition added a tutorial on
 effective strategies, personalized RPA graphs visualizing spacing and
 mixing behaviors, periodic reflections on practice patterns, and
 rubric-based grading of final behavior graphs. LMS timestamps captured
 quiz attempt details (dates, times, scores) to compute spacing scores
 (distribution of attempts over days), mixing scores (alternation between
 topics), total attempts, and UB-rubric levels (categorized practice
 quality). Course exam scores (midterm and final) and a delayed retention
 test (MIP 300 only, administered 4 weeks post-course) provided performance
 measures. All data were de-identified to comply with IRB and privacy
 regulations. The experiments tested whether U-Behavior increases use of
 high-utility study behaviors compared to control, and whether these
 behavioral changes predict improved exam performance and long-term
 retention in challenging microbiology-related courses. Processed
 summaries, descriptive statistics, and regression outputs support the
 manuscript's findings on behavior change and learning outcomes ###
 Files and variables #### File: `1._MIP300_001_-_Dryad.xlsx`
 **Description:** This file supports analyses in the paper's
 Experiment 2: comparing behavior change (Spacing, Mixing, UB-Level)
 between conditions, relating them to exam performance (Exam1–FinalExam)
 and overall outcomes (FinalScore, FinalGrade), and controlling for prior
 achievement (HS_GPA, CSU_GPA) and practice quantity (TotalAttempts). It
 also includes a retention test component indirectly through outcomes,
 though raw retention scores are not in this sheet. ##### Variables
 **Section** Course section identifier (string, e.g.,
 "2020FA-MIP-300-002", "2020FA-MIP-300-003",
 "2020FA-MIP-300-232", "2020FA-MIP-300-233"). Indicates
 which section the student was enrolled in (used for quasi-experimental
 assignment in Experiment 3). **Consent** Indicates whether the student
 consented to data use for research (all rows = "Yes").
 **Condition** Experimental group assignment: "U-Behavior"
 (treatment: full intervention with tutorial, RPA graphs, reflections, and
 graded behavior) or "Control" (low-stakes quizzing only).
 **AttentionValue** attention/engagement/participation score or data
 quality flag based on LMS active (2–4; higher values indicate better
 attention or completeness). **Exam1** Score on Exam 1 (percentage or
 points; float, range includes 0–101; some 0s indicate missed exams).
 **Exam2** Score on Exam 2 (percentage or points; float). **Exam 3** Score
 on Exam 3 (percentage or points; float). **FinalExam** Score on the
 comprehensive final exam (percentage or points; float).
 **ExamsFinalScore** Weighted average or composite score from the four
 exams (Exam1 + Exam2 + Exam3 + FinalExam) (percentage; float).
 **FinalExamGrade** Letter grade assigned specifically for the final exam
 component (categorical: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F). **FinalScore**
 Overall final course score (percentage; float), the comprehensive weighted
 grade for the entire course. **FinalGrade** Overall letter grade for the
 course (categorical: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F).
 **RetrievalPracticeActivities** Points or percentage earned for the
 retrieval practice activities (RPAs) component  **Spacing** Spacing
 behavior score (%) — quantifies how well the student distributed RPA
 attempts across multiple days (0–100; higher = better distributed/spaced
 practice). Derived from attempt timestamps. **Mixing** Interleaving/mixing
 behavior score (%) — quantifies how well the student alternated between
 different RPAs/topics within study sessions (0–100; higher = better
 mixing). **UB-Level** U-Behavior rubric level (integer 1–4): overall
 categorization of practice quality based on Spacing and Mixing thresholds
 (1 = lowest/least effective; 4 = optimal/highly effective spaced and mixed
 practice). **Original-UB-Grade** Points awarded for the U-Behavior
 practice behavior component based on UB-Level and rubric (integer, e.g.,
 16 for level 1, 40 for level 2, 80 for level 4 in U-Behavior group;
 lower/blank in Control). **U-BehaviorFinalPoints** Final points assigned
 for the U-Behavior activity after rubric application (integer, e.g., 41,
 65, 80; reflects adjusted or final graded value for behavior in U-Behavior
 group). **PracticeBehaviorCheckALL** Categorical or flag variable
 indicating overall practice behavior review status or compliance check
 **U-BehaviorFinalScore** Final percentage or score contribution from the
 U-Behavior component to the overall course grade **TotalAttempts** Total
 number of RPA quiz attempts across all available RPAs (integer; measures
 overall practice quantity). **HS_GPA** High school grade point average
 (float, scale 0–5.0 or 4.0+; prior academic performance covariate; some
 missing/blank). **CSU_GPA** Cumulative GPA at Colorado State University
 (CSU) at the time of the course (float; university-level prior performance
 covariate; used in regressions for MIP 300). **Additional notes on the
 file and variables:** The dataset is anonymized (no student IDs/names).
 Rows represent individual students (n ≈ 165+ based on partial view; full
 sheet has more). Many Control group rows have blanks/NaN for
 U-Behavior-specific variables (e.g., Spacing, Mixing, UB-Level,
 U-BehaviorFinalPoints, U-BehaviorFinalScore) since behavior was not graded
 or visualized the same way. Units: Percentages (%) for exam/course scores
 (Exam1–FinalScore, Spacing, Mixing, RetrievalPracticeActivities); points
 for graded components (Original-UB-Grade, U-BehaviorFinalPoints); count
 for TotalAttempts; GPA on standard scale. #### File: VMBS100_-_Dryad.xlsx
 **Description:** This file supports analyses in the paper's
 Experiment 2: comparing behavior change (Spacing, Mixing, UB-Level)
 between conditions and relating them to performance (Midterm, FinalExam,
 FinalScore), while controlling for prior achievement (HS_GPA) and practice
 quantity (TotalAttempts). ##### Consent Indicates whether the student
 consented to data use for research. **Condition** Experimental group
 assignment: "U-Behavior" (treatment: received the full
 U-Behavior intervention with tutorial, graphs, reflections, and graded
 behavior) or "Control" (low-stakes quizzing only). **Attention
 Value** Measure of student attention/engagement in LMS; **Midterm** Score
 on the midterm exam (percentage or points; float, range ~32.5–50).
 **FinalExam** Score on the final exam (percentage or points; float, range
 ~0–98). **FinalScore** Overall final course score (percentage; float,
 range ~36.4–98.18), a weighted combination of all assessments.
 **FinalGrade** Letter grade assigned for the course (categorical: A, B, C,
 F). **Retrieval Practice Activities** Points earned or percentage achieved
 for the retrieval practice activities (RPAs) component of the grade
 (float, 0–120 in U-Behavior group; NaN or blank in Control where not
 graded the same way).  **Spacing** Spacing behavior score (%) — measures
 how well the student distributed RPA attempts across different days
 (0–100; higher = better spacing / more distributed practice). Calculated
 from attempt timestamps. **Mixing** Interleaving / mixing behavior score
 (%) — measures how well the student alternated between different
 RPAs/topics in study sessions (0–100; higher = better mixing).
 **BehaviorCheck** Categorical or flag variable for behavior quality check
 (integer, mostly 1 or 2); Indicates whether behavior met minimum
 thresholds or a review status. **UB-Level** U-Behavior rubric level
 (integer 1–4): overall categorization of practice quality based on Spacing
 and Mixing thresholds (1 = lowest / least effective; 4 = optimal/highly
 effective spaced & mixed practice). **Original-UB-Grade** Points
 awarded for the U-Behavior component based on UB-Level and rubric
 (integer, e.g., 24 for level 1, 60 for level 2, 120 for level 4 in
 U-Behavior group. **HS_GPA** High school grade point average (float, scale
 likely 0–5.0 or 4.0; used as a prior academic performance covariate; some
 missing/NaN). **TotalAttempts** Total number of RPA quiz attempts across
 all available RPAs (integer; overall practice quantity). **Additional
 notes on the file and variables:** The dataset is anonymized (no student
 IDs/names). Rows represent individual students (n ≈ 125 based on visible
 data). NaN/blank values appear in Control group for variables graded only
 in U-Behavior (e.g., Retrieval Practice Activities, detailed behavior
 scores). Units: Percentages (%) for scores (Midterm, FinalExam,
 FinalScore, Spacing, Mixing); points for some grade components (Retrieval
 Practice Activities, Original-UB-Grade); count for attempts; GPA on
 standard scale. This file supports analyses in the paper's Experiment
 2: comparing behavior change (Spacing, Mixing, UB-Level) between
 conditions and relating them to performance (Midterm, FinalExam,
 FinalScore), while controlling for prior achievement (HS_GPA) and practice
 quantity (TotalAttempts). ## Code/software Microsoft Excel or another
 spreadsheet.  ## Human subjects data I confirm that I received explicit
 consent from your participants to publish the de-identified data in the
 public domain. All individual identifiers were removed from these data
 files.