What is “test-enhanced learning”?
In essence, test-enhanced learning is the idea that the process of remembering concepts or facts—retrieving them from memory—increases long-term retention of those concepts or facts. This idea, also known as the testing effect, rests on myriad studies examining the ability of various types of “tests”—prompts to promote retrieval—to promote learning when compared to studying. It is one of the most consistent findings in cognitive psychology (Roediger and Butler 2011; Roediger and Pyc 2012).
In some ways, the terms “test-enhanced learning” and the “testing effect” are misnomers, in that the use of the word “tests” calls up notions of high-stakes summative assessments. In fact, most or all studies elucidating the testing effect examine the impact of low-stakes retrieval practice on a delayed summative assessment. The “testing” that actually enhances learning is the low-stakes retrieval practice that accompanies study in these experiments.
With that caveat in mind, the testing effect can be a powerful tool to add to instructors’ teaching tool kits—and students’ learning tool kits.
things research tells us about the effects of retrieval practice
1. REPEATED RETRIEVAL ENHANCES LONG-TERM RETENTION IN A LABORATORY SETTING.
The idea that active retrieval of information from memory improves memory is not a new one: William James proposed this idea in 1890, and Edwina Abbott and Arthur Gates provided support for this idea in the early part of the 20th century (James, 1890; Abbott, 1909; Gates, 1917). During the last decade, however, evidence of the benefits of testing has mounted.
2. VARIOUS TESTING FORMATS CAN ENHANCE LEARNING.
Smith and Karpicke examined whether different types of questions were equally effective at inducing the testing effect (2014). The researchers performed a series of experiments with undergraduate students in a laboratory environment, examining the effects of short answer (SA), multiple choice (MC), and hybrid SA/MC formats for promoting students’ ability to remember information from a text. In one experiment, five groups of students were compared (see Figure 3). Students read four texts, each approximately 500 words long. After each, four groups of students then participated in different types of retrieval practice, while the fifth group was the no-retrieval control. One week later, the students returned to the lab for a short-answer test
3. FEEDBACK ENHANCES THE BENEFITS OF TESTING.
Considerable work has been done to examine the role of feedback on the testing effect. Butler
