In 2007, Karpicke and Roediger published an experiment comparing the effects of study trials versus test trials on retention. One group of college students reread a word list 15 times and took five tests, while another group reread the same list five times and took 15 tests. Each group completed 20 trials. Researchers found that the group that read more had worse recall a week later than the group that tested more, 57% versus 64%. A third group, which alternated testing and rereading, recalled even more at 68%.
All three groups spent 20 trials with the same words, yet the group that reread them the most recalled them the least. Why?
Quizlet examines what research shows about how students learn and retain information.
The second part of the 2007 study offers an answer. Karpicke and Roediger again had students learn word lists, but for some, a word was retired from further tests once it was recalled correctly. For the other group, the correctly recalled words stayed in the testing rotation.
The study found that students who kept the words in the rotation recalled 44% of them a week later, compared with 21% among those who dropped the words. The authors attribute this finding to the common flashcard habit of setting aside cards once this information has been learned.
This part of the study helps explain the earlier findings. The students who reread the words weren’t doing anything wrong; they were spending more time rereading instead of self-testing. The second experiment explained that that activity stopped paying off once the word was recalled.
Self-testing wins, but it’s not the most popular way of studying. A 2006 experiment may help explain why. In the experiment, Karpicke and Roediger had students read a short passage, then either reread it or take a test five minutes later. The rereaders came out ahead. But on tests given two days or a week later, the tested students recalled more information.
Even though the tested students did better on long-term recall, the rereaders felt more confident. When asked to predict how much they’d remember, the students who reread the most were more confident in their ability to remember the material.
Students may choose study habits that make them feel the most confident, rather than those that lead to better recall.
Two research reviews, six years apart, back up the studies’ findings. The report compares the studies with two reviews that evaluated different learning techniques using separate criteria.
Dunlosky’s 2013 review rated practice testing and distributed practice as high, the only two out of the ten techniques with that rating. Rereading was rated as low.
In the 2007 review by What Works Clearinghouse, only two techniques were rated as strong as well: using quizzes to re-expose students to key content and asking deep explanatory questions. Interestingly, using tests to identify what students still need to learn was rated low, suggesting that diagnostic testing is less effective than using tests as a recall technique.
Five techniques overlapped the two reviews, and both identified one as top-tier: testing yourself. It’s also important to note that a low rating in either panel does not mean the technique was harmful or useless. It just means that there was little evidence of effectiveness.
The compiled research suggests that the most effective study technique isn't necessarily the one that makes students feel the most confident.
The studies used word lists and college students, and the college guide has not been updated since 2007. The side-by-side comparison of the two reviews was designed by Quizlet, not the reviews themselves.
This story was produced by Quizlet and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
