Enhancing learning through testing: Investigating the practical uses and theoretical understanding of the forward testing effect.

Recent research has provided promising evidence that administering interpolated tests during learning can prospectively enhance learning and retention of new information, a phenomenon termed the forward testing effect (FTE). For instance, asking people to recall the content after studying each section of a text passage, by comparison with restudying each section, can double the recall of the next section. This prospective benefit of interpolated testing has been shown to enhance learning and recall of foreign-translation word pairs, text passages, lecture videos, artists' painting styles, and other types of information; it reduces mind-wandering (i.e., zoning out) and enhances note-taking; it not only enhances memory of specific content but also improves knowledge integration (e.g., comprehension of texts and lecture videos). Given that people's study effort (e.g., attention, motivation) tends to decline across a study phase and attenuated study effort leads to a reduction in learning efficiency and impaired learning outcomes, it is important to explore effective strategies to sustain study effort and maintain learning efficiency across a study phase, such as the FTE.

Although the empirical findings are promising, many critical features of the FTE are yet to be fully understood. Without a much deeper exploration of its mechanisms and boundary conditions, its practical significance and theoretical basis, as well as educational translation and exploitation, will be hindered. Therefore, the main aims of the current project are to develop a full account of the FTE and to apply this technique to enhance educational practice.

Several explanations have been proposed to explain how and why interpolated testing facilitates the learning of new information, and the first aim of the current project is to test these accounts. For instance, we recently proposed an expectancy-motivation theory: Repeated tests cause increasing test expectancy, which combines with metacognitive awareness of the difficulty of achieving successful recall to create enhanced learning motivation. To test this theory, the current research will measure test expectancy, learning engagement (e.g., attention, note-taking, mind-wandering), and test performance. Cutting-edge experimental (e.g., pre-registration) and statistical analysis (e.g., Bayesian multilevel mediation analysis and structural model fitting) methods will be employed.

The second aim is to investigate the boundary conditions and moderators of the FTE. Are interpolated tests beneficial for everyone? Put differently, who will benefit or suffer from repeated testing? Does test difficulty matter? Can partial testing (that is, only partial contents are tested) induce the prospective benefits as effectively as testing on all contents? Are the forward benefits long-lasting? Several studies are proposed to explore these critical questions.

A key and innovative aim is to explore the practical (and educational) utility of the FTE. Several studies are proposed to investigate (1) the FTE in the classroom; (2) whether repeated testing can reduce test anxiety; (3) whether learners appreciate the prospective benefits of interpolated tests (metacognitive awareness) and administer self-tests during learning (metacognitive control); (4) whether interpolated tests can be profitably employed as a remedial technique to mitigate older adults' learning and memory deficits.

Overall, the work proposed in this application will allow key critical features of the FTE to be better understood and facilitate exploitation of its theoretical and practical significance for learners, educators, and researchers.

This research explores the extent to which tests can facilitate subsequent learning and seeks to shed light on the psychological processes (e.g., motivation, attention, interference) that drive this forward testing effect (FTE). Its key contribution is to enhance our understanding of human learning, via the development and testing of new methods for measuring and assessing the consequences of retrieval. In addition to academic impact, there is significant potential for the project to have broader societal impact across a range of communities, as detailed below.

Practitioners

Although the translational pathway from cognitive psychology to practical learning contexts inside and outside the classroom is complex, there is growing recognition of the importance of cognitive science for teachers, as indicated by the rapid growth of the Science of Learning field (e.g., Horvath, Lodge, & Hattie, 2017) and associated journal, and major policy statements (e.g., Deans for Impact, 2015). We will exploit the potential applied relevance of our work in the publications and conference presentations that result from our project: for instance, we plan to present the findings at conferences for practitioner groups (e.g., Society for the Teaching of Psychology). This research has impact potential for all those (both learners and educators) working in educational settings (school, university, lifelong, self-directed). Much current interest in effective learning techniques is inspired by research on metacognition and the testing effect (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014). The methodological approaches we will test could have a direct impact on this type of applied research by providing educators and policy makers with the necessary tools to make nuanced assessments of learning techniques. We will embed the research findings within our undergraduate and graduate teaching of cognitive psychology (e.g., using end-of-lecture quizzes) and will disseminate the research via our institutional professional development centre and HEA conferences (e.g., Shanks, 2018).

Public

We will construct project websites in both English and Chinese with information about the project's background, aims, and findings, and these will be accessible to the general public globally. The websites will be highlighted via institutional and other relevant web pages. A series of public lectures is planned to engage and inform the general public on topics directly related to the project. These include UCL's Lunch Hour Lecture series, available on YouTube and regularly receiving >1000 views, as well as to audiences engaged by British Psychological Society outreach events. One aim will be to increase public awareness about the common misalignment between the factors (e.g., retrieval practice) that boost long-term learning and people's metacognitive beliefs about these factors (e.g., the belief that restudying is an effective strategy) and how advanced research methods can contribute to understanding this mismatch. Another will be to raise public awareness about meta-science issues such as pre-registration and publication bias.

Academics in Other Fields

Cognitive psychology research on the testing effect has attracted the attention of many educational, developmental and clinical psychologists as well as neuroscientists who seek to understand its theoretical basis and practical implications from their own disciplinary perspective (e.g., Do the benefits of testing extend across the lifespan? What neural mechanisms are involved?).

Project Staff

The project will also contribute to the development of the cross-transferable skills-base of the project team. They will receive additional advanced training in mathematical and statistical modeling, tools used in a variety of domains and industries - from the civil service to the private sector - to understand and predict behaviour.