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ERIC Number: EJ1451714
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0098-6283
EISSN: EISSN-1532-8023
The Testing Effect in the Lecture Hall: Does It Transfer to Content Studied but Not Practiced?
Julia Glaser; Tobias Richter
Teaching of Psychology, v52 n1 p17-26 2025
Background: Practice tests have been shown to be an effective means to foster long-term retention in higher education, at least compared to restudying (i.e., the testing effect). Objective: The present study replicated and extended prior research by examining whether and to what extent the positive effects of testing on long-term retention in a typical psychology lecture transfer to content presented only during initial learning (and not practiced). Method: Using a within-subjects design, we alternated post-lecture multiple-choice practice tests and restudying opportunities in two psychology classes (N=67). One week after the final lecture session of a cycle of six weekly lecture sessions, retention of learning content was assessed by comparing performance on questions referring to content practiced via testing, encountered via restudying, or unreviewed. Results: We found a testing effect for practiced content, whereas no transfer effect occurred for untested content from the same lecture sessions. Conclusion: These results show that the testing effect is a powerful learning tool, but also suggest a possible boundary condition pertaining only to explicitly tested content. Teaching Implications: Practice testing should be integrated regularly in higher education courses to foster long-term retention for a final test. However, educators should take care that important content is fully covered in practice tests.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A