Pretesting¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 6 studies (2 causal, 2 theoretical, 1 quant-synthesis, 1 review), q2–q4 · 2 of 6 report an effect size

Description¶

Pretesting presents learners with questions about material they have not yet been taught, requiring them to generate an answer or guess before instruction. Learners typically err, but the act of attempting retrieval — even unsuccessfully — primes subsequent learning. The strategy is carried out as a short quiz, problem set, or prediction task immediately preceding the relevant lesson.

Design Implications¶

Pretesting exploits the finding that unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance later encoding of the correct answer, an effect demonstrated across verbal and visual materials Kornell et al. showed pretesting errors improve retention of the correct answers. [+S]. A meta-analysis of pretesting and errorful generation confirms reliable benefits for retention, with effects strongest when feedback follows quickly [+S]. The mechanism appears to be that prequestions activate prior knowledge and direct attention toward the tested content during subsequent study, narrowing what learners encode [~M].

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Questions targeting the specific concepts the upcoming instruction will cover
• A mechanism for learners to commit to an answer (written, clicker, or verbal) rather than passively consider the question
• Prompt feedback or immediate instruction that resolves the pretest questions, so errors do not persist

Constraints¶

• Benefits are selective: prequestions enhance memory for pretested content but can impair learning of non-pretested material by narrowing attention during study [~S] — use only when the pretested concepts are the priority
• Guessing without any prior knowledge or context produces weaker effects than informed attempts grounded in activated prior knowledge [~M]
• If learners cannot generate any answer at all (fully unfamiliar material with no cues), the pretest can function as mere frustration with little encoding benefit [-W]
• Low-stakes framing is essential; graded pretests add evaluation apprehension that undermines the exploratory mindset [-W]

Implementation Variability¶

• Prequestions before reading: 3–5 questions posed before a text or lecture segment
• Problem-first instruction: learners attempt a complex problem before being taught the solution method, as in Productive Failure [+M]
• Pretest with feedback vs. without: both help, but immediate feedback on pretest answers yields larger gains [+S]
• Multiple-choice pretests: even selecting a plausible wrong answer produces the pretesting effect, making the format scalable in LMS quizzing [+M]

Target Learners¶

• Learners with some relevant prior knowledge who can make informed guesses Pretesting errors improve retention especially when learners commit to answers. [+M]
• Novices benefit from the attention-directing function, but benefit most when questions include contextual cues rather than bare terminology [~M]
• Less effective for complete novices with no basis for generating candidate answers [-W]

Target Learning Goals¶

• Retention of facts, concepts, and definitions [+S]
• Attention allocation: signaling which content in a lesson matters most [~M]
• Conceptual preparation: building readiness to understand an explanation, as in problem-first sequences Pretesting and problem-first formats prepare learners to learn from subsequent instruction. [+M]

Instructions¶

1. Select 3–5 questions that target the core concepts of the upcoming lesson, avoiding peripheral detail to prevent attention narrowing [~S]
2. Pose the questions and require a committed answer or guess from every learner — no skipping
3. Keep it low-stakes and frame errors as expected and useful
4. Proceed directly into instruction that addresses the pretest questions, referencing learners' earlier attempts
5. Provide feedback on the pretest answers promptly, either within the lesson or via an immediate follow-up
6. Follow with practice on the same concepts to consolidate the corrected answers

Related Strategies¶

• Retrieval practice — pretesting is retrieval practice applied before learning rather than after; the same retrieval mechanisms are at work
• Activating prior knowledge — prequestions serve this function as a byproduct, surfacing what learners already believe about the topic
• Productive failure [+W] — the extended, problem-based version of pretesting used before conceptual instruction

Examples¶

• Kornell's inductive-learning experiments — participants guessed which painting style matched an artist before being told, and later identified artists better than a no-pretest control group (Kornell, Hays & Bjork, 2009)
• Prequestions in lecture courses — instructors open with clicker questions on the day's topic before lecturing; Richland, Kornell & Kao (2009) showed this improves exam performance on pretested content (doi:10.1037/a0014276)
• LMS pre-reading quizzes — a Canvas or Moodle ungraded quiz assigned before a reading, with automated feedback released at the start of class

Key Sources¶

• Kornell, N., Hays, M. J., & Bjork, R. A. (2009). Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(4), 989–998. doi:10.1037/a0015729
• Richland, L. E., Kornell, N., & Kao, L. S. (2009). The pretesting effect: Do unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance learning? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 15(3), 243–257. doi:10.1037/a0016496
• Pan, S. C., & Rickard, T. C. (2018). Transfer of test-enhanced learning: Meta-analytic review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 144(7), 710–756. doi:10.1037/bul0000151
• Carpenter, S. K., & Toftness, A. R. (2017). The effect of prequestions on learning from video presentations. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(1), 104-109. doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2016.07.014