The Testing Effect in University Teaching: Using Multiple-Choice Testing to Promote Retention of Highly Retrievable Information

Abstract

Background Retrieval practice promotes retention of learned information more than restudying the information. However, benefits of multiple-choice testing over restudying in real-world educational contexts and the role of practically relevant moderators such as feedback and learners’ ability to retrieve tested content from memory (i.e., retrievability) are still underexplored. Objective The present research examines the benefits of multiple-choice questions with an experimental design that maximizes internal validity, while investigating the role of feedback and retrievability in an authentic educational setting of a university psychology course. Method After course sessions, students answered multiple-choice questions or restudied course content and afterward could choose to revisit learning content and obtain feedback in a self-regulated way. Results Participants on average obtained corrective feedback for 9% of practiced items when practicing course content. In the criterial test, practicing retrieval was not superior to reading summarizing statements in general but a testing effect emerged for questions that targeted information that participants could easily retrieve from memory. Conclusion Feedback was rarely sought. However, even without feedback, participants profited from multiple-choice questions that targeted easily retrievable information. Teaching Implications Caution is advised when employing multiple-choice testing in self-regulated learning environments in which students are required to actively obtain feedback.