Abstract
Review of learned material is crucial for the learning process. One approach that promises to increase the effectiveness of reviewing during learning is to answer questions about the learning content rather than restudying the material (testing effect). This effect is well established in lab experiments. However, existing research in educational contexts has often combined testing with additional didactical measures that hampers the interpretation of testing effects. We aimed to examine the testing effect in its pure form by implementing a minimal intervention design in a university lecture (N = 92). The last 10 min of each lecture session were used for reviewing the lecture content by either answering short-answer questions, multiple-choice questions, or reading summarizing statements about core lecture content. Three unannounced criterial tests measured the retention of learning content at different times (1, 12, and 23 weeks after the last lecture). A positive testing effect emerged for short-answer questions that targeted information that participants could retrieve from memory. This effect was independent of the time of test. The results indicated no testing effect for multiple-choice testing. These results suggest that short-answer testing but not multiple-choice testing may benefit learning in higher education contexts.
Highlights
Learners tend to remember less learning content when reading or listening to it only once (e.g., Aiken et al, 1975)
The present study investigated the testing effect in a university education setting by implementing a minimal intervention in an existing university course
The main finding was a testing effect for practice tests based on short-answer questions, provided that participants in the testing condition were able to retrieve this content
Summary
Learners tend to remember less learning content when reading or listening to it only once (e.g., Aiken et al, 1975). Students often need to review the learned material, for example, when studying for exams. One potentially effective review strategy is the active retrieval of learned material from memory, which can be prompted by testing knowledge of the learned content. The finding that testing is superior to restudying the learning material is called the testing effect or retrieval practice effect (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006a). The superiority of testing compared to restudying might not be detected until later criterial tests or exams. Because of this latent effect, testing or retrieval practice is sometimes regarded as a desirable difficulty (Bjork, 1994). Desirable difficulties are defined as learning occasions that may hamper learning in the short run but enhance learning in the long run
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