How to Study

Teaching how to study: The Testing Effect

prof_bmw
Expert
0 0 4,055
08-14-2019 09:02 AM

Learning Curve quizzes are a great tool to help students review material and prepare for
classroom discussion, and they also provide us with metrics to indicate what students might
be struggling with so we can better tailor our classroom time to meet the student’s needs.
Students often ask “how can I better study for exams?” and sometimes ask for review sheets
or some way to test their knowledge prior to the exam, so they can see what they know and
what they do not. Showing student how to properly use Learning Curve quizzes to help them
study for exams provides them with a critical tool for learning and developing metacognitive
skills.

When it comes to studying, a lot of students’ report reading and re-reading the text,
highlighting as they go, but these strategies have been demonstrated to be relatively
inefficient in terms of learning (Dunlosky, et al, 2013). If we can direct them to utilize more
high-impact practices, such as self-testing, we can encourage learning as well as promote the
development of study skills that can benefit them over the course of their academic career
and beyond. To help our students better learn material and prepare for exams, we can direct
them back to the Learning Curve quizzes and explain to them how to use them as a study
tool.

When students study material in the same way that they will be asked to recall it later on an
exam or quiz, we find an increase in performance for that material, this is often referred to as
the testing effect. When students prepare for a standardized exam, like the SAT or GRE, they
are encouraged to take practice exams in order to assess what they know and identify areas
where there is are gaps in their knowledge. Roediger and Karpicke’s (2006) investigation of
the testing effect demonstrated that students who tested themselves on the material perform
better than students who reviewed the material for the same amount of time despite the
former group of students spending less time initially on the material than the students who
simply re-studied. Roediger and Butler (2011) build on the testing effect and repeated
retrieval, demonstrating that an expanding interval between retrieval attempts provides better
retention. We can use these findings to benefit our students by explaining to them that
learning science has informed us, through evidence-based research, that the best way to study
is to do it in little bits, spread out over time, and repeated self-testing can be an efficient way
to learn and practice material.

Explaining the testing effect to students and how to use Learning Curve quizzes more
effectively has the potential to increase student grades and engagement with your course.
These best practices give them better control over their success in your course. When we
explain to students how to better use their study time, we can help them become better
learners in all their courses.

Best practices:

1. Let your students know that re-reading and highlighting may seem like they are
working, but actually provide the least benefit to learning. Let them know that instead
of taking more time to study, they use the time they already allocate to study more
efficiently.
2. Direct them to the Learning Curve quizzes as a way to test their knowledge and study
for exams.
3. Tell your students that if they get a question wrong, do not copy the question and
correct answer to review later, instead write down the concept that the question was
about, look it up and then write down (in their own words) their understanding of the
concept. Inform them that this helps get the idea into your memory, copying the
question and answer may feel like work, but is not helping you understand.
4. Encourage your students to study often, in small blocks of time. Very few students
I’ve spoken to enjoy cramming for 8 hours the night before an exam. Let your
students know that they should study in the same way personal trainers will tell you to
work out, in small blocks of time and with concentrated effort.
5. Tell your students about the testing effect (there are many you-tube videos you can
show in class or put on your LMS) and how it works. Encourage them to prepare for
exams by reviewing Learning Curve quizzes and taking notes.

References

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013).
Improving Students’ Learning with Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions
from Cognitive and Educational Psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest,
14(1), 4–58. doi:10.1177/1529100612453266

Roediger, H. L.; Butler, A. C. (2011). "The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term
retention". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 15 (1): 20–27. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.09.003

Roediger, H. L.; Karpicke, J. D. (2006). "Test-Enhanced Learning: Taking Memory Tests

According to the Scientific American article Researchers Find That Frequent Tests Can Boost
Learning through the psychological process of retrieval practice, the repetitious nature of test taking
actually aids students in retaining knowledge longer term as opposed to traditional teaching methods
(Paul). Retrieval practice, formally known as “the testing effect” argues against the “reading the
material and being tested on it later” method, but rather encourages students to learn through frequent
state of testing. Now while consistent testing sounds intense, many do not realize the brain
empowered blessings this poses. Studies have shown that when testing a student on material even
before they have had their lecture can improve knowledge retention rates even beyond the final exam.
Learning Curve and iClicker are excellent examples of just that. Learning Curve allows students to
answer multiple choice and short answer questions before the actual lecture, making students read the
material and answer basic questions on what they read. To continue the testing repetition, using
iClicker’s REEF Polling can continue the testing habit in a group setting. If more students get in the
habit of answering questions based on the material, when it is time to take the official exam, they are
more likely to excel and score higher.

Paul, Annie Murphy. "Researchers Find That Frequent Tests Can Boost Learning." Scientific
American. N.p., 08 July 2015. Web. 24 May 2017.

• LearningCurve
• Tags:
• psychology
• retrieval practice
• test anxiety
• testing effect
• When my colleagues and I took our research out of the lab and into a Columbia, Ill.,
middle school class, we found that students earned an average grade of A- on material
that had been presented in class once and subsequently quizzed three times, compared
with a C+ on material that had been presented in the same way and reviewed three
times but not quizzed. The benefit of quizzing remained in a follow-up test eight
months later.
• Notably, Mary Pat Wenderoth, a biology professor at the University of Washington,
has found that this benefit holds for women and underrepresented minorities, two
groups that sometimes experience a high washout rate in fields like the sciences.
• This isn’t just a matter of teaching students to be better test takers. As learners
encounter increasingly complex ideas, a regimen of retrieval practice helps them to
form more sophisticated mental structures that can be applied later in different
circumstances. Think of the jet pilot in the flight simulator, training to handle midair
emergencies. Just as it is with the multiplication tables, so it is with complex concepts
and skills: effortful, varied practice builds mastery.
• We need to change the way we think about testing. It shouldn’t be a white-knuckle
finale to a semester’s work, but the means by which students progress from the start
of a semester to its finish, locking in learning along the way and redirecting their
effort to areas of weakness where more work is needed to achieve proficiency.
• Standardized testing is in some respects a quest for more rigor in public education.
We can achieve rigor in a different way. We can instruct teachers on the use of low-
stakes quizzing in class. We can teach students the benefits of retrieval practice and
how to use it in their studying outside class. These steps cost little and cultivate habits
of successful learning that will serve students throughout their lives.