Is the Testing Effect Ready to Be Put to Work? Evidence From the Laboratory to the Classroom

• Published in: Translational issues in psychological science 2021-09, Vol.7 (3), p.332-355
• Main Authors: Trumbo, Michael C. S., McDaniel, Mark A., Hodge, Gordon K., Jones, Aaron P., Matzen, Laura E., Kittinger, Liza I., Kittinger, Robert S., Clark, Vincent P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES; Classroom Environment; Classrooms; Education; Educational Laboratories; Educational Measures; Human; Learning; Learning Strategies; Long-Term Retention; Retention; Retrieval Practice; School Learning; Testing Effect
• ISSN: 2332-2136; 2332-2179
• DOI: 10.1037/tps0000292

The testing effect refers to the benefits to retention that result from structuring learning activities in the form of a test. As educators consider implementing test-enhanced learning paradigms in real classroom environments, we think it is critical to consider how an array of factors affecting test-enhanced learning in laboratory studies bear on test-enhanced learning in real-world classroom environments. This review discusses the degree to which test feedback, test format (of formative tests), number of tests, level of the test questions, timing of tests (relative to initial learning), and retention duration have import for testing effects in ecologically valid contexts (e.g., classroom studies). Attention is also devoted to characteristics of much laboratory testing-effect research that may limit translation to classroom environments, such as the complexity of the material being learned, the value of the testing effect relative to other generative learning activities in classrooms, an educational orientation that favors criterial tests focused on transfer of learning, and online instructional modalities. We consider how student-centric variables present in the classroom (e.g., cognitive abilities, motivation) may have bearing on the effects of testing-effect techniques implemented in the classroom. We conclude that the testing effect is a robust phenomenon that benefits a wide variety of learners in a broad array of learning domains. Still, studies are needed to compare the benefit of testing to other learning strategies, to further characterize how individual differences relate to testing benefits, and to examine whether testing benefits learners at advanced levels. What is the significance of this article for the general public?Laboratory experiments suggest that testing (e.g., practice tests, quizzes) in educational environments might serve as a powerful learning technique (termed the testing effect), rather than simply as an assessment tool. Research conducted with authentic materials and in classrooms confirms that the testing effect is a robust phenomenon, with properly implemented testing (quizzing) protocols benefiting learning and long-term retention for most students in most educational contexts.