In the second part of his exploration of the value of testing, Marcin Lewandowski considers what self-testing can offer.
All by myself
In fact, testing doesn’t have to be done by teachers at all. Self-testing is arguably the best habit learners can instill in themselves. Checking with yourself whether you’ve understood the material you’ve been studying by recalling as much as you can from memory is harder but much more effective than re-reading it (which may give us the illusion of knowing). Research shows that students who took a test asking them to recall information about a text they had read retained 50% more information a week later than students who had not been tested (Brown 2015).
Humble flashcards will allow students to self-quiz on key lexis or concepts. There are also a number of applications that can easily be used for this purpose. My personal preference is ‘quizlet’ which is available as a website and an application. It allows users to create study content such as flashcards which can then be used to self-quiz in fun, varied and interactive ways. Teachers can also create classes and choose who to share their quizzes with. In addition to teachers creating content, students themselves can create flashcards and share them with their peers. As it is an app all content can conveniently be accessed wherever and whenever making it a good choice for busy students.
Space it to ace it!
However, whichever testing method we use, it is important that students are exposed and re-exposed to the learning matter at regular intervals if this information is to be retained. Repeated retrieval practice (i.e. testing) over a period of time builds and strengthens neural connections related to the information being taught or studied. Teachers can support this by ensuring that tests are relatively frequent and cover not only the most recent (not yet tested) material but also ‘recycle’ older already tested stuff as well. The reason for this is twofold. One, it shows students that what they study remains relevant regardless of when it was covered, and two, the effect of retrieval is the strongest at the point of forgetting.
The same principle applies to self-testing. Spaced repetition leads to stronger, more durable and better organised knowledge. Revisiting the questions that you get wrong more frequently as well as sporadically attending to the questions that you get right ensures that the information is fresh when needed (and long after). Spaced repetition should be preferred to ‘cramming’ which is essentially trying to memorize a large volume of information in a short space of time. This may be enough for the student to pass an exam but the understanding of the information learnt will be superficial and likely to be forgotten soon after.
Testing is a simple, yet highly effective way to build better mastery in all areas of learning. It is easy to implement and can facilitate long-term retention. However, whilst we shouldn’t shy away from making tests challenging, we should be mindful that some students may be discouraged if they see no improvement in their own performance. We should also engage in open discussions with our students about the merits of testing. They may still be reluctant but at least they’ll understand that we do it for their benefit. As their knowledge improves they’ll no doubt start to appreciate these benefits themselves.
If you missed it, ensure to read part 1 of this series!
References:
Brown, P.C. & Roediger, H.L. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Harvard University Press.
Carey, B. (2015). How We Learn: Throw out the rule book and unlock your brain’s potential. Pan Books.