In a Terracotta study across classes, retrieval practice review outperformed restudy review on subsequent exams¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Students who reviewed material by taking a multiple-choice test (retrieval practice) outperformed students who reviewed by reading answers to quizzes (restudy), replicating an existing finding across course types. → motz-result q3 i? Students answered three-quarters of retrieval questions correctly, and when students got a question wrong and tried it again they were more likely to get it right. → motz-result

Evidence¶

motz-result¶

Manai, J., & Roschelle, J. (2024, November). Connecting SEERNet and Improvement Science to Pursue Better Outcomes in Schools. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/234

q3 · i? · causal · r?

The white paper reports the ManyClasses 2 study by Motz et al. (2024), conducted with the Terracotta platform in Canvas, which randomized retrieval-practice versus restudy review assignments. The authors report retrieval practice was better, with students able to answer "three-quarters of the questions correctly". No effect size is printed in this paper.

"Motz et al. (2024) found that retrieval practice was better—as expected—and they also reported some interesting findings on the retrieval questions. For example, students were able to answer three-quarters of the questions correctly, suggesting they were neither too hard nor too easy."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• In a teacher-run classroom survey, students most preferred practice test questions among three retrieval-practice strategies, and about three-quarters reported feeling well prepared after using retrieval strategies versus about a quarter without them — related
• Working a research scenario against a DLP surfaced concrete platform needs: adding measures, linking observational data, and enabling districtwide studies — related
• Retrieval practice improves long-term retention — a broader claim this one bears on
• Rereading Is A Low Utility Study Strategy — related
• Taking initial multiple-choice tests without feedback can lead students to later produce the incorrect lure answers they selected, even when an overall retrieval practice benefit occurs — related
• Providing feedback after initial multiple-choice tests cut lure intrusions on final short-answer tests roughly in half, with immediate and delayed feedback equally effective — related
• Retrieval practice benefits have been observed in children, healthy older adults, and memory-impaired patient groups, not only college students — related
• 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
• Completing the Science of Learning to Learn training conferred an effect of about one-third of a letter grade (d ~ 0.3) on subsequent quizzes and exams in the original randomized study — related
• A math teacher whose students had typically prepared for tests by rereading notes implemented three retrieval-practice strategies after learning that rereading is not effective for long-term retention — related