While research shows testing effectively strengthens long-term retention and facilitates new learning, policymakers tend not to appropriate these benefits and prefer minimizing classroom tests. A recent meta-analysis by Yang and colleagues investigated testing’s impact on academic performance across 222 classroom studies over 90 years, comparing quizzing to no quizzing. It found quizzing enhanced exam scores by nearly half a standard deviation (g = +0.499), highlighting testing’s power to improve outcomes. Results of moderator analysis is shown below:
- The control group’s activities significantly moderated the effects. Tests demonstrated the larger impact when comparing quizzes with a no-activity or filler tasks (g=+0.610) but found no significant effect difference when compared to elaborative strategies such as concept mapping, note-taking, or summarizing (g=+0.095).
- Different testing formats had different effects. Fill-in-the-blanks (g=+0.773), short answers (g=+0.638), and multiple choice (g=+0.567) produced relatively larger effect size and free-recall the smallest (g=+0.238).
- Matched test format (g=+0.531) between quiz and final assessment yielded higher effects than inconsistent test format (g=+0.399). Tests on similar material (identical, rephrased, or partial) showed stronger effects (g = +0.496 to +0.512), but transfer-ability was also found in untested material in exams (g=+0.321).
- Providing corrective feedback (g _=+0.537) yielded better results than no feedback (g _ =+0.374).
- Post-class quizzing (g=+0.536) showed higher benefits than pre-class quizzing (g=+0.186).
- Lengthier interventions spanning an entire semester or more (g > +0.5) facilitated greater gains than a single class intervention (g=+0.385).
While testing has encountered skepticism, such doubts do not lessen its substantial value when used appropriately. Moreover, a recent meta-analysis by the principal author incorporated 25 studies with the majority in classroom settings demonstrating that quizzing moderately reduces test anxiety (g=-0.52). The authors recommended practitioners consider testing as a learning tool instead of simply an assessment technique. They also provided theoretical explanations of the testing effect in their article.
Source: Yang, C., Luo, L., Vadillo, M. A., Yu, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2021). Testing (quizzing) boosts classroom learning: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(4), 399–435. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000309