Using tests to enhance 8th grade students' retention of U.S. history facts

Laboratory studies show that retention of information can be powerfully enhanced through testing, but evidence for their utility to promote long-term retention of course information is limited. We assessed 8th grade students' retention of U.S. history facts. Facts were reviewed after 1 week, 16 weeks or not reviewed at all. Some facts were reviewed by testing (Who assassinated president Abraham Lincoln?) followed by feedback (John Wilkes Booth), while others were re-studied. Nine months later, all students received a test covering all of the facts. Facts reviewed through testing were retained significantly better than facts reviewed through re-studying, and nearly twice as well as those given no review. The best retention occurred for facts that were reviewed by testing after a 16-week time interval. Although the gain in item was numerically small, due to floor effects, these results support the notion that testing can enhance long-term retention of course knowledge. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  Elizabeth J Marsh,et al.  The memorial consequences of multiple-choice testing , 2007, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[2]  L. Carrier,et al.  College Students' Choices of Study Strategies , 2003, Perceptual and motor skills.

[3]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Test format and corrective feedback modify the effect of testing on long-term retention , 2007 .

[4]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Examining the Testing Effect with Open-and Closed-book Tests , 2022 .

[5]  Robert A. Bjork,et al.  Learning from tests: Effects of spacing , 1977 .

[6]  Harold Pashler,et al.  Is temporal spacing of tests helpful even when it inflates error rates? , 2003, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[7]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  The Power of Testing Memory Basic Research and Implications for Educational Practice , 2006 .

[8]  Shana K. Carpenter,et al.  Enhancing learning and retarding forgetting: Choices and consequences , 2007, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[9]  G. A. Allen,et al.  Effects of recall tests on long-term retention of paired associates , 1969 .

[10]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Generalizing test-enhanced learning from the laboratory to the classroom , 2007, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[11]  M. McDaniel,et al.  Testing the testing effect in the classroom , 2007 .

[12]  J. J. Donovan,et al.  A meta-analytic review of the distribution of practice effect: Now you see it, now you don't. , 1999 .

[13]  Shana K. Carpenter,et al.  Application of the Testing and Spacing Effects to Name Learning , 2005 .

[14]  H. Pashler,et al.  Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. , 2006, Psychological bulletin.

[15]  R. DeShon,et al.  Combining effect size estimates in meta-analysis with repeated measures and independent-groups designs. , 2002 .

[16]  M. McDaniel.  Applying cognitive psychology to education. , 2007, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[17]  Shana K. Carpenter,et al.  Impoverished cue support enhances subsequent retention: Support for the elaborative retrieval explanation of the testing effect , 2006, Memory & cognition.

[18]  William L. Cull,et al.  Expanding understanding of the expanding-pattern-of-retrieval mnemonic: Toward confidence in applicability , 1996 .

[19]  Mark A. McDaniel,et al.  Tests and test feedback as learning sources , 1991 .

[20]  H. F. Spitzer.  Studies in retention. , 1939 .

[21]  Nate Kornell,et al.  Principles of cognitive science in education: The effects of generation, errors, and feedback , 2007, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[22]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Expanding retrieval practice promotes short-term retention, but equally spaced retrieval enhances long-term retention. , 2007, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[23]  James A. Kulik,et al.  Effects of Frequent Classroom Testing. , 1991 .

[24]  V. Modigliani.  Immediate rehearsal and initial retention interval in free recall. , 1980 .

[25]  R. Atkinson,et al.  Massed versus distributed practice in computerized spelling drills. , 1968, Journal of educational psychology.

[26]  J. B. Stroud,et al.  Review, with special reference to temporal position. , 1940 .

[27]  Elizabeth J Marsh,et al.  The positive and negative consequences of multiple-choice testing. , 2005, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[28]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Disparate Effects of Repeated Testing: Reconciling Ballard's (1913) and Bartlett's (1932) Results , 1992 .

[29]  F. N. Dempster,et al.  Distributing and Managing the Conditions of Encoding and Practice , 1996 .

[30]  F. N. Dempster,et al.  The spacing effect: A case study in the failure to apply the results of psychological research. , 1988 .

[31]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Testing improves long-term retention in a simulated classroom setting , 2007 .

[32]  The Role of Distinctive Perceptual Information in Memory: Studies of the Testing Effect , 1997 .

[33]  H. Pashler,et al.  The influence of retrieval on retention , 1992, Memory & cognition.

[34]  Kathleen B McDermott,et al.  Retrieval-induced facilitation: initially nontested material can benefit from prior testing of related material. , 2006, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[35]  William L. Cull,et al.  Untangling the benefits of multiple study opportunities and repeated testing for cued recall , 2000 .

[36]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Test-Enhanced Learning , 2006, Psychological science.

[37]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention , 2007 .

[38]  Harold Pashler,et al.  Testing beyond words: Using tests to enhance visuospatial map learning , 2007, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[39]  P. E. Morris,et al.  Practical aspects of memory , 1980 .

[40]  Vito Modigliani,et al.  The effect of expanded versus massed practice on the retention of multiplication facts and spelling lists. , 1985 .

[41]  Robert A. Bjork,et al.  Retrieval practice and the maintenance of knowledge. , 1988 .

[42]  Robert A. Bjork,et al.  The promise and perils of self-regulated study , 2007, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[43]  Shana K. Carpenter,et al.  The effects of tests on learning and forgetting , 2008, Memory & cognition.

[44]  Robert A. Bjork,et al.  Optimum rehearsal patterns and name learning , 1978 .

[45]  Mark A. McDaniel,et al.  Altering memory representations through retrieval. , 1985 .

[46]  Edward Vul,et al.  What types of learning are enhanced by a cued recall test? , 2006, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[47]  E. Hirshman,et al.  Investigations of the testing effect. , 1996 .