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and how to use them

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Different ways to use Quizzes in the classroom

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Different ways to use Quizzes in the classroom

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Written for HE but very applicable to standard teaching

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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I've been rethinking my views on quizzing. I'm still not in favor of quizzes that rely on low-level questions where the right answer is a memorized detail or a quizzing strategy where the primary motivation is punitive, such as to force students to keep up with the reading. That kind of quizzing doesn't motivate reading for the right reasons and it doesn't promote deep, lasting learning. But I keep discovering innovative ways faculty are using quizzes, and these practices rest on different premises. I thought I'd use this post to briefly share some of them.

Mix up the structure - Elizabeth Tropman makes a strong case for reading quizzes (highlights from her piece appear in the March issue of The Teaching Professor). She changes up quiz structures on a regular basis. Sometimes it's the usual objective questions, other times it's short-answer questions, or it might be a question that asks for an opinion response to the reading. Some quizzes are open-book; a few are take home. What an interesting way to give students experience responding to different kinds of test questions and to keep quiz experiences from becoming stale.

Reference: Tropman, E., (2014). In defense of reading quizzes. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 26 (1), 140-146.

Collaborative quizzing - Lots of different options are being used here. Students do the quiz, turn it over, stand up and talk with a partner, to others in a small group, or with whomever they choose. After the discussion, they return to their quiz and may change any of their answers. Alternatively, students do the quiz individually, turn it in, and then do the same quiz in a small group. The two quiz scores are combined with the individual score counting for 75% of the grade and the group quiz 25% (or some other weighted variation). Collaborative quizzing is an effective way to generate enthusiastic discussion of course content and reduce test anxiety.

Reference: Pandey, C., and Kapitanoff, S. "The Influence of Anxiety and Quality of Interaction on Collaborative Test Performance." Active Learning in Higher Education, 2011, 12 (3), 163-174.

Quizzing with resources - Students take detailed notes on the reading because they're allowed to use those notes during the quiz. The same approach works with quizzes that cover content presented during class. Students may use their class notes while taking the quizzes. The pay-off is a good (or better) set of notes for use during exam preparation. Ali Resaei reports that open-note quizzing coupled with collaboration resulted in significantly higher final exam scores in his quantitative research methods course.

Reference: Rezaei, A. R., (2015). Frequent collaborative quiz taking and conceptual learning. Active Learning in Higher Education, 16 (3), 187-196.

Quizzing after questioning - Before the quiz occurs, students are given the opportunity to ask questions about potential quiz content. The instructor and the class work on finding the right answer or discussing the merits of possible responses. If someone asks a question that stimulates a lot of good discussion, that question becomes the quiz question and students have the designated amount of time to write an answer. Or if a variety of good questions have been asked, answered, and discussed by a variety of students, the professor who shared this option may tell students they've just had their quiz and everyone present gets full credit. This approach encourages students to ask better questions and facilitates substantive classroom discussions.

Online quizzes completed before class - Students complete an online quiz before class. The quizzes are graded electronically with a compiled summary going to the professor so there's enough time to look at the most frequently missed problems and/or to identify areas of misunderstanding. Then class time can be used to address those concepts that are giving students the most trouble.

The advantage of regular quizzes is that they provide ongoing opportunities for retrieval practice and much cognitive psychology research (like that summarized in the reference that follows) documents the benefits of frequent testing. Regular quizzing does improve class attendance and it gets more students coming to class prepared. Those are not trivial benefits, but with a few different design features, quizzes can also promote deeper engagement with the content, further the development of important learning skills, and provide teachers and students with feedback that promotes learning.

Reference: Brame, C. J. and Biel, R., (2015). Test-enhanced learning: The potential for testing to promote greater learning in undergraduate science courses. Cell Biology Education-Life Sciences Education, 14 (Summer), 1-12.

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Five Types of Quizzes That Deepen Engagement with Course Content - Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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I've been rethinking my views on quizzing. I'm still not in favor of quizzes that rely on low-level questions where the right answer is a memorized detail or a quizzing strategy where the primary motivation is punitive, such as to force students to keep up with the reading.

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Using Retrieval Practice in GCSE English 

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Using Retrieval Practice in GCSE English 

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A blog by a UK teacher

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True or False Multiple Choice or Short Answer

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Review student understanding at the class, individual student, or question-level.

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Articles about Retrieval Practice

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We were recently asked by History teacher Carl Newman @carlnewman9526 if we could provide some good reads on retrieval practice, "for teachers new to the concept". That was one request we could easily fulfill!

We've blogged about various aspects of retrieval practice:

We also recently created a retrieval practice concept map to visually depict the direct and indirect benefits of quizzing. But surprisingly, we haven't yet blogged at length about the benefits of quizzing! This is definitely something we plan to do in the future, but for now, here we present 5 easy-to-read yet close-to-the-science blog posts and articles written by others for you to share with teachers who might not have read about retrieval practice as much as you - yet.

Before we launch into the list, though, it's important to note that there are many different terms that are used to mean more or less the same thing for our purposes. So if you see any of the following, these all refer to retrieval practice, or the act of bringing information to mind from memory:

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We were recently asked by History teacher Carl Newman @carlnewman9526 if we could provide some good reads on retrieval practice, "for teachers new to the concept". That was one request we could easily fulfill! We've blogged about various aspects of retrieval practice: We also recently created a retrieval practice concept map to visually depict the direct and indirect benefits of quizzing.

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The cognitive science

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Editable key visuals

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teaching materials worksheets printables math fractions handwriting geometry homeschooling classroom teachers parents geography spelling language puzzles

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Find worksheets about Graphic Organizers

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Retrieval Practice is any activity in which students have to recall previously learnt information.

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Retrieval Practice is any activity in which students have to recall previously learnt information.

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Read about the cognitive science behind the practice in the link.

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Cognitive and educational psychologists have uncovered a great deal of information about the mind, brain, memory and learning. Some of this research has found its way into practice through educational materials; however, few have been directly translated to practitioners and students.

Recently, a group of scientists identified easy-to-use learning techniques that can help teachers and students achieve their learning goals. We talked with Henry Roediger, a psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis, about retrieval practice - one technique shown to be effective in improving student learning.
How do you define retrieval practice?
Retrieval practice is, as the name implies, the practice of retrieving information from memory. Suppose I ask you "Who was president before Abraham Lincoln?" The question might take most Americans aback, but they probably once knew. If they are able to say, after reflection, "James Buchanan," that is retrieval practice. You will know that fact better in the future; if you are asked the same question once a month, within a year you would probably know the answer for a very long time. Spaced retrieval practice (that is, practicing retrieval at fairly long intervals) really helps long-term memory. If the person cannot retrieve Buchanan the first time, feedback should be given and then the person should be tested again later when retrieval is possible. Massed retrieval practice - simply saying "James Buchanan" over repeatedly, does not much help long-term retention.

We all know that such practice helps from how we learned multiplication tables. Most of us had flash cards (now on a computer, probably) with 9 x 4 on one side and 36 on the other. We practiced them at intervals until the answers were automatic.

Being tested on information a certain number of times is much better than simply studying the information an equivalent number of times, so long as a person gets feedback (the right answer) if she or he does not know the answer.

Many people find this outcome counterintuitive, because the way many students try to learn is by repeatedly reading information. Repeatedly retrieving it actually works much better for long-term retention.
Why, at a cognitive level, is testing more beneficial than repeated study?
Psychologists disagree - there are several theories. Here is one way to look at it: What we try to do with repeated reading is to get information into memory, into our store of knowledge. That is often a stated goal of education - to learn and store the information. There is nothing wrong with that, and we need to do it. However, what retrieval practice does is to help us practice getting information out of memory, to actively use information. Retrieval practice is part of active learning. Normal study activities like underlining, highlighting and rereading do not promote retrieval practice.
It is clear that retrieval practice improves long-term retention of information. What evidence is there that it also fosters deeper learning?
Good question! Some educators worry that retrieval practice might just lead to students rote learning of little factoids. Knowing that James Buchanan was president before Lincoln is not of much use if you do not also know how his policies in trying to save the Union seemed to infuriate all sides and, by the end of his presidency, led to (or at least did not prevent) secession of a half dozen southern states.

Research is still ongoing to address your question, but work by Andrew Butler, Jeff Karpicke, Shana Carpenter and Mark McDaniel, among others, shows that retrieval practice does seem to lead to deeper learning in the sense that retrieval practice leads to better transfer to new forms of questions than does repeated studying. In the transfer experiments, the practice tests will give one form of the question, but then the criterial test will give a different form of the question or a question from a different domain. For example, the practice question might be about sonar in submarines and how bouncing sounds off objects in the water localizes those objects. Then the question on the final test might be about sonar in bats - the same principles at work, but in a different domain.

What retrieval practice does is to help us practice getting information out of memory, to actively use information. Henry L. Roediger, III

Further, retrieval practice leads to better learning than some popular techniques that are thought to provide deep understanding like forming concept maps.
What suggestions do you have for teachers on how to leverage retrieval practice in their K-12 classrooms?
We have conducted many experiments in classrooms in middle and high schools in Columbia, Illinois. Briefly, our research used the actual materials in schools (say, sixth grade social studies classes). Our research assistants would quiz certain pieces of information three times, other information once, and other information not at all. The quizzes occurred in the classroom and did not count for a grade - the students seemed to enjoy them as a fun activity that broke up the lectures. They used response systems - "clickers" - to signal the answer to questions and then got immediate feedback. What we found was that on chapter tests, on semester exams and, in some cases, even tests given many months later, the material that had been quizzed more was better retained. This outcome occurred in middle school and in high school in a variety of subjects and classes.

Building retrieval practice into courses is relatively straightforward for teachers. For example, in teaching introductory courses in the university, some of us provide a brief quiz at the end of class over the day's readings and lecture. We can provide retrieval practice on important concepts, and the quizzes also encourage students to do the readings, to attend class and to pay attention in class. Retrieval practice also works well for students when they are studying, if they are willing to make the effort to compose questions as they read and then try to answer them later. They can also use the key terms and questions that often appear at the end of chapters.

Of course, retrieval practice is not a panacea - other strategies for learning help too - but spaced retrieval practice can produce remarkably strong learning that can last a long time. People often ask me, "How many times should I practice retrieving?" and "What spacing should I use?" The real answer is that these answers are unknown and probably differ for different materials and different people. However, we should retrieve more than once or twice - maybe 5-7 times - and at long intervals, say over a period of days. You should practice retrieval more frequently for difficult material and for material you think you are barely retrieving. Try it. It works.
Henry L. Roediger, III is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Roediger's research has centered on human learning and memory and he has published on many different topics within this area. He has published over 200 articles and chapters on various aspects of learning and memory, and is co-author of the recently published book, "Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning." References

1. Roediger, H. L., Putnam, A. L., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Ten benefits of testing and their applications to educational practice. In J. Mestre & B. Ross (Eds.), Psychology of learning and motivation: Cognition in education (pp. 1-36). Oxford: Elsevier. [ PDF]

2. Roediger, H. L., & Butler, A. C. (2011). The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15, 20-27. [ PDF]

3. Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319, 966-968. [ PDF]

4. Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17, 249-255. [ PDF]

Aubrey is the Chief Research Officer at Digital Promise. You can follow her on Twitter at @aubreyfrancisco.

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Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Retrieval Practice - Digital Promise

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Cognitive and educational psychologists have uncovered a great deal of information about the mind, brain, memory and learning. Some of this research has found its way into practice through educational materials; however, few have been directly translated to practitioners and students.