The test taking method as a means of learning makes sense, said Susan Gonzalez, who works at Western’s Testing Center.
“If you take tests on smaller chunks of information at a time you can really remember it,” she said.
During the study, four separate groups of students practiced three different learning techniques. They all studied the same scientific text.
The first two groups read over the passage in a series of intensive study sessions. The third group read the text and drew a concept map of the material. The fourth group took a free recall test, writing any information they remembered immediately after reading the text. The last group then read the material again and took another recall test.
The students were asked to rate how much they thought they would remember a week later. Students predicted that consistent studying would produce the best long-term retention, and that practicing retrieval would produce the worst retention, even though the opposite was true, the research report said.
One week later the students returned to take a test that contained questions requiring them to recall details from the text as well as infer information based on what they had learned. The group who had taken the recall tests remembered about 50 percent more information than students who had participated in elaborate studying or concept mapping.
This result suggested that retrieving information for a test not only measures knowledge but also changes memory and therefore, helps students learn, the report said.
This learning technique is already in use on Western’s campus, said Barbara Quick, assistant director at Western’s Tutoring Center.
“Tutoring, when done right, is a kind of self-testing,” she said. “For this principle to work, I don’t think that it has to be a formal test administered by a professor.”
Quick said the tutoring center teaches the Cornell System. This system of studying teaches students to write key words and questions from their notes and then test themselves on the material by recalling links to key words and answering questions.
“The system tests to see what you have a firm grip on and what you need to spend more time on,” Quick said. “The idea for note taking is to review your notes not just before an exam but on a daily basis for 10 to 15 minutes each day.”
Practicing this study technique exercises students’ ability to recall information without the pressure of an in-class test and may improve their ability to take actual tests, she said.
“Students have to realize that taking a test is a whole new ball of wax than studying in your room or with your pal,” Quick said. “To have ready access to that information takes practice.”
The recall test technique may not belogical in the classroom because large class sizes would create large amounts of grading for professors, said Kathy Murray, office manager at the Testing Center.
“Many big classes just have mid-terms and finals,” she said. “Personally, when I went to school I benefited more from having a lot of smaller tests.”
Implementing this method in classrooms would make a lot of sense, Gonzalez said. It would allow students to learn information in smaller chunks that are easier to remember, she said.
Tests are nerve-wracking for Western sophomore Brandi Ball. Having more testing in classes might be bad for some students, she said.
“If a student has bad test anxiety it could freak them out because they are constantly worried about tests,” she said. “Maybe if there were multiple tests it would be fine because they would be worth less points and there would be less material to remember.”
Ball said it also might be good for teachers so they could keep up with what material students are struggling with and what they should go over again in class.
“When I hear about this study, I’m not thinking about classroom practices as much as I’m thinking about what the students can do outside of class to study effectively,” Quick said.
The Western Front
January 28, 2011
“If you take tests on smaller chunks of information at a time you can really remember it,” she said.
During the study, four separate groups of students practiced three different learning techniques. They all studied the same scientific text.
The first two groups read over the passage in a series of intensive study sessions. The third group read the text and drew a concept map of the material. The fourth group took a free recall test, writing any information they remembered immediately after reading the text. The last group then read the material again and took another recall test.
The students were asked to rate how much they thought they would remember a week later. Students predicted that consistent studying would produce the best long-term retention, and that practicing retrieval would produce the worst retention, even though the opposite was true, the research report said.
One week later the students returned to take a test that contained questions requiring them to recall details from the text as well as infer information based on what they had learned. The group who had taken the recall tests remembered about 50 percent more information than students who had participated in elaborate studying or concept mapping.
This result suggested that retrieving information for a test not only measures knowledge but also changes memory and therefore, helps students learn, the report said.
This learning technique is already in use on Western’s campus, said Barbara Quick, assistant director at Western’s Tutoring Center.
“Tutoring, when done right, is a kind of self-testing,” she said. “For this principle to work, I don’t think that it has to be a formal test administered by a professor.”
Quick said the tutoring center teaches the Cornell System. This system of studying teaches students to write key words and questions from their notes and then test themselves on the material by recalling links to key words and answering questions.
“The system tests to see what you have a firm grip on and what you need to spend more time on,” Quick said. “The idea for note taking is to review your notes not just before an exam but on a daily basis for 10 to 15 minutes each day.”
Practicing this study technique exercises students’ ability to recall information without the pressure of an in-class test and may improve their ability to take actual tests, she said.
“Students have to realize that taking a test is a whole new ball of wax than studying in your room or with your pal,” Quick said. “To have ready access to that information takes practice.”
The recall test technique may not belogical in the classroom because large class sizes would create large amounts of grading for professors, said Kathy Murray, office manager at the Testing Center.
“Many big classes just have mid-terms and finals,” she said. “Personally, when I went to school I benefited more from having a lot of smaller tests.”
Implementing this method in classrooms would make a lot of sense, Gonzalez said. It would allow students to learn information in smaller chunks that are easier to remember, she said.
Tests are nerve-wracking for Western sophomore Brandi Ball. Having more testing in classes might be bad for some students, she said.
“If a student has bad test anxiety it could freak them out because they are constantly worried about tests,” she said. “Maybe if there were multiple tests it would be fine because they would be worth less points and there would be less material to remember.”
Ball said it also might be good for teachers so they could keep up with what material students are struggling with and what they should go over again in class.
“When I hear about this study, I’m not thinking about classroom practices as much as I’m thinking about what the students can do outside of class to study effectively,” Quick said.
The Western Front
January 28, 2011
