I have looked at how testing can improve learning before. This study looks at why testing improves learning. It seeks to understand what it is we do when we take a test.
Researchers used learning a foreign language for their study. They found that to learn the word in another language the participants would use word associations. The act of taking a test forced them to create better word associations.
We want to do well on tests. Therefore we improve our strategy for taking the test. The test exerts a pressure on us. That is I think why testing improves memory. There is a difference to the student when a teachers says do this work and take this test. A test carries much more weight than the study sheet on the same material.
Part of the problem is that students do not see the connection. If they knew that doing well on the study sheet would improve their grade on the test they might work harder on the study sheet.
The problem is keeping the balance. If we give too many tests student begin to devalue them and we would lose the pressure that makes them learn from the tests. If we give too few they lose the opportunity to learn and grow.
Application
A teacher needs to keep tests relevant and stress their importance. Teachers could give quizzes in place of tests. While quizzes would not carry as much weight they would encourage the student to form better connections with the information they are learning without lessening the impact of testing.
Researchers used learning a foreign language for their study. They found that to learn the word in another language the participants would use word associations. The act of taking a test forced them to create better word associations.
We want to do well on tests. Therefore we improve our strategy for taking the test. The test exerts a pressure on us. That is I think why testing improves memory. There is a difference to the student when a teachers says do this work and take this test. A test carries much more weight than the study sheet on the same material.
Part of the problem is that students do not see the connection. If they knew that doing well on the study sheet would improve their grade on the test they might work harder on the study sheet.
The problem is keeping the balance. If we give too many tests student begin to devalue them and we would lose the pressure that makes them learn from the tests. If we give too few they lose the opportunity to learn and grow.
Application
A teacher needs to keep tests relevant and stress their importance. Teachers could give quizzes in place of tests. While quizzes would not carry as much weight they would encourage the student to form better connections with the information they are learning without lessening the impact of testing.
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