Practice testing, or retrieval practice, is an effective learning strategy that helps students remember information. It involves recalling learned material through quizzes and tests. However, students' motivation to use this method can vary, especially for those with lower prior knowledge, meaning struggling students might not use effective study strategies as much. In a study published in Learning and Individual Differences, researchers investigated why some students were less likely to engage in practice testing in a classroom setting.
Researchers analyzed data from 325 students in a first-semester math course at a large public university over the span of 13 weeks, each week including two lectures and one tutorial discussing worksheet exercises. Students had access to three 30-minute online ungraded quizzes throughout the semester which covered content from the previous three to four weeks. The quizzes included open-ended questions with numeric entries and multiple-choice questions. Students received immediate corrective feedback after completing each quiz but no additional elaborative feedback.
Retrieval Practice Use & Benefits
The researchers examined who benefited most from practice tests and who used them, considering various factors like demographics and motivation, and analyzed the predictors together. As hypothesized, they found that increased practice testing lead to better exam performance, including higher grades and pass rates. This effect supports the idea that practice testing strengthens memory networks, making information easier to access during exams.
The benefits of practice testing were significant even when considering quiz performance, indicating that retrieving information enhances learning on its own. High school GPA was the main predictor of practice testing use, showing that prior academic success influenced study strategies. Students less interested or not majoring in the subject also engaged less in practice testing.
Retrieval Practice & Academic Success
In predicting whether students passed the exam, total quiz attempts were more influential than high school GPA, suggesting that repeated retrieval practice was more predictive of exam success than academic history alone. The number of quiz attempts however was the overall strongest predictor of quiz performance. While motivational beliefs such as math self-concept were influential, their importance was significantly lower than total quiz attempts.
Mostly notably, students with higher prior achievement—as indicated by math grades and GPA in high school—benefited more from practice testing, especially when they engaged in multiple quizzes. Students with low-to-moderate prior achievement needed more quiz attempts to achieve similar exam performance levels as their higher-achieving peers.
The researchers concluded that practice testing can benefit students at all ability levels, but lower-achieving students require greater engagement and a minimum level of performance to realize these benefits. They suggest that the structured and incentivized nature of the quizzes likely increased both engagement and effectiveness, showing how important it is to integrate such tools into course design.
StepUp Note
In the StepUp to Learn programs students do retrieval practice every day, with small changes every week and bigger changes every 2 weeks. Using rhythm in retrieval practice also builds fluency for basic math, reading and handwriting skills. Retrieval fluency exercises turn basic skills into tools for new learning!
Note by Nancy W. Rowe, MS, CCC/A