Initial multiple-choice tests with plausible, competitive alternatives outperformed initial short-answer tests on final questions that were related to but not directly tested initially¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The chapter reports, citing Little et al. (2012), that initial multiple-choice conditions with competitive alternatives outperformed initial short-answer conditions on related, untested final questions. → Karpicke 2017

Evidence¶

Karpicke 2017¶

Karpicke, J. D. (2017). Retrieval-Based Learning: A Decade of Progress. Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference, 2nd edition, Volume 2. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.21055-9

q2 · i? · review · r3

The chapter reports Little et al. (2012), who built multiple-choice questions with plausible incorrect alternatives: "initial multiple-choice conditions outperformed initial short-answer conditions on final tests that included questions that were related but not directly tested".

"More importantly, Little et al. showed that initial multiple-choice conditions outperformed initial short-answer conditions on final tests that included questions that were related but not directly tested on the initial test."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Evidence on whether initial short-answer questions produce more learning than initial multiple-choice questions is mixed, with recent studies finding little or no difference — related
• Initial short-answer tests outperform initial multiple-choice tests mainly when feedback follows them; without feedback, the higher initial success of multiple-choice tests can favor multiple-choice — related
• Having more multiple-choice alternatives benefits later retention when initial retrieval success is high but hurts learning when it is low — related
• The benefits of retrieval practice do not depend on an exact match between initial retrieval practice conditions and the final test format — a broader claim this one bears on
• Competitive true-false questions can produce benefits similar to competitive multiple-choice questions for previously asked and related questions — related