1. The Testing Effect in University Teaching: Using Multiple-Choice Testing to Promote Retention of Highly Retrievable Information
- Author
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Greving, Sven, Lenhard, Wolfgang, and Richter, Tobias
- 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.
- Published
- 2023
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