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Research papers on Active recall vs. re-reading

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  1. Pretesting versus posttesting: Comparing the pedagogical benefits of errorful generation and retrieval practice.

    Steven C. Pan, Faria Sana · 2021 · Journal of experimental psychology. Applied · 72 citations

    The use of practice tests to enhance learning, or test-enhanced learning, ranks among the most effective of all pedagogical techniques. We investigated the relative efficacy of pretesting (i.e., errorful generation) and posttesting (i.e., retrieval practice), two of the most prominent practice test types in the literature to date. Pretesting involves taking tests before to-be-learned information is studied, whereas posttesting involves taking tests after information is studied. In five experiments (combined n = 1,573), participants studied expository text passages, each paired with a pretest or a posttest. The tests involved multiple-choice (Experiments 1-5) or cued recall format (Experiment

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  2. The Optimal Learning Strategy Depends on Learning Goals and Processes: Retrieval Practice Versus Worked Examples

    Darren J. Yeo, Lisa K. Fazio · 2019 · Journal of Educational Psychology · 47 citations

    Testing (having students recall material) and worked examples (having students study a completed problem) are both recommended as effective methods for improving learning. The two strategies rely on different underlying cognitive processes and thus may strengthen different types of learning in different ways. Across three experiments, we examine the efficacy of retrieval practice and worked examples for different learning goals and identify the factors that determine when each strategy is more effective. The optimal learning strategy depends on both the kind of knowledge being learned (stable facts vs. flexible procedures) and the learning processes involved (schema induction vs. memory and

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  3. Effect of uniform versus expanding retrieval practice on the recall of physiology information

    John L. Dobson · 2012 · Advances in Physiology Education · 30 citations

    The purpose of this study was to compare the retention of selected physiology concepts throughout 30 days of two different uniform schedules of retrieval and two different expanding schedules of retrieval. Participants ( n = 250) first read and reread 30 immunology and reproductive physiology concepts and were then repeatedly assessed, without feedback, according to one of the following four randomly assigned schedules: 1) immediately after learning and again 9 and 19 days later [uniform ( days 1, 10, and 20)]; 2) 7, 14, and 21 days after learning [uniform ( days 8, 15, and 22)]; 3) immediately after learning and again 5 and 15 days later [expanding ( days 1, 6, and 16)]; and 4) 1, 6, and 1

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  5. The Use of Retrieval Practice in the Health Professions: A State-of-the-Art Review

    Michael J Serra, Althea N. Kaminske, Cynthia L. Nebel, et al. · 2025 · Behavioral Sciences · 9 citations

    Retrieval practice, or the active recall of information from memory, is a highly effective learning strategy that strengthens memory and comprehension. This effect is robust and strongly backed by research in cognitive psychology. The health professions—including medicine, nursing, and dentistry—have widely embraced retrieval practice as a learning and study tool, particularly for course exams and high-stakes licensing exams. This state-of-the-art review examines the historical development, current applications, and future directions for the use of retrieval practice in health professions education. While retrieval-based learning has long been used informally in these fields, its formal reco

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  6. Retrieval-based learning versus discussion; which review practice will better enhance primary school students’ knowledge of scientific content?

    Anna Jakobsson, Jenny Loberg, Maria Kjörk · 2023 · International Journal of Science Education · 7 citations

    ABSTRACT Retrieval-based learning, using tests for content review, frequently proves more effective for knowledge retention compared to alternative methods. Extensive research has explored this with older students, often in contrast to more passive techniques like rereading or note rewriting, typically focusing on vocabulary content, in non-classroom settings and assessing knowledge retention within a week. In this study we conducted a classroom experiment to compare the efficacy of retrieval-based learning to another active method of reviewing content, namely discussion, in promoting long-term knowledge retention among primary school science students. Additionally, we assessed the students’

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  7. The Moderating Role of Learning Rounds: Effects on Retrieval Practice and Context Dependence in Digital Flashcard Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning

    Shan Huang, Hongwen Cao, Jiayin Wang, et al. · 2025 · Behavioral Sciences · 7 citations

    Digital flashcards are widely used in foreign language vocabulary learning. Research attributes their effectiveness to retrieval practice, where learners actively recall target information, thereby enhancing learning performance. The superiority of retrieval practice over non-retrieval methods such as restudying is referred to as the retrieval practice effect (RPE). Despite extensive research on the RPE, two key questions remain underexplored: how the number of learning rounds modulates the RPE in digital flashcard learning and whether the benefits of retrieval practice are consistently observed across different test modalities, a factor related to the context-dependence of memory. To addres

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  8. Virtual language learning: potential and practice

    Uschi Felix · 1998 · ReCALL · 7 citations

    How realistic is it to achieve good quality language learning and teaching using technology? This paper looks at the advantages and disadvantages of using CD-ROMs and Web-based materials in the quest for providing meaningful interactive language learning strategies to students. It will demonstrate that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, at least in terms of pedagogy, and that there is no need to reject technology despite difficulties and frustrations because the latest developments in technology, especially on the WWW, have significantly increased the potential for even more authentic interaction in the classroom. Illustrations from our Vietnamese course are included.

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  10. The battle of question formats: a comparative study of retrieval practice using very short answer questions and multiple choice questions

    E. V. van Wijk, M. de Jonge, Floris M. van Blankenstein, et al. · 2024 · BMC Medical Education · 4 citations

    Retrieval practice is a highly effective learning strategy that enhances long-term retention by encouraging the active recall of information. However, the optimal question format for maximizing knowledge retention remains uncertain. In this study, we compared the effect of very short answer (VSAQ) versus multiple-choice question (MCQ) practice tests on students’ knowledge retention. By analyzing these two formats, we aim to identify the most effective approach to retrieval practice, thereby helping to optimize its implementation and improve learning outcomes. In this randomized within-subjects study, students (n = 45) practiced with both VSAQs and MCQs in an extracurricular lifestyle course,

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  12. Effects of Cued-Recall Versus Recognition Retrieval Practice on Beginning College Students’ Exam Performance

    T. Lawson · 2021 · College Teaching · 3 citations

    Abstract Cognitive psychologists have found that taking practice tests improves students’ learning, and some claim that tests that require recall are more effective than those that require recognition. This study examined whether recognition (i.e., multiple-choice) quizzes were as effective as cued-recall (i.e., fill-in-the-blank) quizzes for improving introductory psychology students’ exam performance. Chapters covered on each of four exams were assigned to either a no-quiz, fill-in-the-blank-quiz, or multiple-choice-quiz condition, and I evaluated students’ average exam performance on questions related to each quiz condition. Both the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank quizzes improved

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  14. Spaced Repetition and Retrieval Practice: Efficient Learning Mechanisms from a Cognitive Psychology Perspective and Their Empowerment by AI

    Mengqi Huang · 2025 · International Journal of Asian Social Science Research · 2 citations

    This paper explores two efficient learning strategies-spaced repetition and retrieval practice-from the perspective of cognitive psychology, and examines their integration with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. It first establishes the theoretical foundation by elaborating on the human memory processes (encoding, storage, retrieval), Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve, the spacing effect, and the retrieval practice effect, clarifying how these strategies align with the brain’s memory mechanisms. The paper then analyzes the scientific principles of spaced repetition, including its reliance on memory consolidation theory and desirable difficulty theory, as well as the evolution of interval a

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  15. Retrieval Practice and Word Learning During Narrative Intervention in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: A Case Study

    Beatriz de Diego-Lázaro · 2025 · Communication Disorders Quarterly · 2 citations

    Retrieval practice involves actively recalling information from memory and has been found to be an effective strategy for word learning. This U.S. case study aimed to describe the effect of retrieval practice on word learning in four children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Children received eight language intervention sessions in 4 weeks. Target words were presented in the context of a narrative under three different conditions: no retrieval, immediate retrieval, or spaced retrieval. Under the no-retrieval condition, children received exposure to new words, but they were not asked to recall them. Under the immediate-retrieval condition, children were required to recall words immediat

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  16. Free-recall retrieval practice tasks for students with ADHD: whole-text versus section recall

    Pnina Stern, Vered Halamish · 2023 · Frontiers in Psychology · 1 citations

    Introduction The present study examined the relative effectiveness of two free-recall-based retrieval practice methods for text learning among students with ADHD. Method Participants with and without ADHD read texts and practiced them by freely recalling the information either after reading each section or after reading the whole text. Two days later, participants completed a free-recall criterion test on the texts. Results The results suggested that although more idea units were recalled during practice in the section recall condition than in the whole-text recall condition, the whole-text recall condition outperformed the section recall condition on the criterion test in terms of the propo

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  17. Enhancing Student Learning with Flipped Teaching and Retrieval Practice Integration.

    Chaya Gopalan · 2024 · Advances in physiology education · 1 citations

    Flipped teaching (FT) is an instructional approach centered around students, displacing traditional lectures from the classroom to make room for active learning. Retrieval practice can enhance content recall. This study investigated the effectiveness of lecture-style teaching (TT), FT, and a combination of retrieval practice with FT (FTR) in a physiology course over four consecutive semesters. Student performance in the FT (92.78p±3.93) and FTR (92.98p±3.73) methods surpassed that of the TT method (89.28p±4.67); p<0.01), with a notable correlation between science grade point averages and the instructional methods employed (p<0.01). Analysis of the impact of teaching methods on different segm

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  19. Attention-direction versus retrieval practice: which fosters the productive recall of German formulaic sequences best?

    Griet Boone, June Eyckmans · 2020 · Vial-vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics · 1 citations

    This article reports on a classroom-based (quasi)-experiment with a pre-test post-test design that explored the effect of two types of activities on the productive recall of German formulaic sequences (FS): 1) attention-directing activities and 2) retrieval practice. Two intact classes of Dutch-speaking university students of German participated in the study. One class was randomly assigned to the attention-directing condition (n=18), the other one to the retrieval condition (n=11). Twenty-two target FS were selected as learning items. Each group processed the FS in a different condition. In the attention-directing condition, students had to 1) re-read a video transcript with the FS in bold

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  20. Retrieval practice versus generating mnemonics: Implications for study strategy use in chemistry.

    Jonathan G Tullis, Di Zhang · 2025 · Journal of experimental psychology. Applied

    Many researchers and educators have strongly advocated for utilizing retrieval practice to improve student learning and grades. Yet, the mnemonic consequences of retrieval practice have almost exclusively been compared to rereading, which is a passive, ineffective study strategy. Across two experiments that each included 69 college student participants conducted in the 2022-2023 academic year, we tested how practice retrieving chemistry concepts impacts memory and transfer compared to generating mnemonics (and rereading). Learning was assessed either after 5 min or 2 days. Practicing retrieval and generating mnemonics both bolstered memory and transfer compared to restudying but did not yiel

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  21. Improved student learning through active retrieval practice and random-sampled exams

    Kaili Vesik, Kathleen Currie Hall · 2024 · The Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique

    Abstract:One pedagogical finding that has gained recent attention is the utility of active, effortful retrieval practice in effective learning. Essentially, humans learn best when they are asked to actively generate/recall knowledge for themselves, rather than receiving knowledge passively. In this paper, we (a) provide a framework for both practice and assessment within which students can organically develop active study habits, (b) share resources we have built to help implement such a framework in the linguistics classroom, and (c) provide some examples and evaluation of their success in the context of an introductory phonetics/phonology course.Résumé:Une découverte pédagogique récente es

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  23. Daily Text-Message Retrieval Practice for Pediatric Residents

    Adin Nelson, Molly Broder, Alan Schwartz, et al. · 2025 · Cureus

    Objective Residents have limited time and much to learn. This creates an inescapable time pressure, which encourages reliance on efficient and effective learning strategies. Retrieval practice - study strategies such as flashcards and practice questions that demand active recall of desired information - is an increasingly common learning strategy for medical trainees. Growing evidence has linked retrieval practice to improved learning outcomes, but it has primarily come from small, observational studies, and their methods have varied widely. The variability in the existing literature makes it difficult to synthesize the evidence and identify best practices. We designed a national, prospectiv

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