This section explains how to study to achieve your goals in an efficient manner.
In this article, we will continue from the previous article on how to use tests to learn.
In the last issue, we introduced the following information.
- If you use the test effect when reviewing, you can improve your score efficiently.
- When reviewing, just reading the textbook or notes is not enough to keep in mind.
- If you have a quiz to review, leave some space between quizzes.
- You can stop giving quizzes when you can understand what you have learned.
In this article, we will take a deeper look at the testing effect introduced in the previous article.
How long does the test effect last, and what kind of method works best for you?
How long will the test effect last?
The test effect often raises two questions.
The first is, “How long does the test effect last?” The first is “How long will the test effect last?
If there are a lot of subjects to study, such as entrance exams or certification exams, there may be a long gap between the review (quiz) and the final test.
When this happens, how long will the effect of the quiz last?
If you don't review, your memory will fade away. If that is the case, if the interval between the final test and the final test becomes too long, will the effect be the same whether you take the quiz for review or not?
The second is about how to take the quiz.
For example, when memorizing the meanings of English words, world history facts, or math formulas, is it important to actually write them down or say them out loud?
Or can you just recall the answer in your mind?
This question also leads to the question of why quizzes have a learning effect in the first place.
If writing many times is important, then the effectiveness of the quiz should be tied to keeping your hands engaged.
Here is a study that challenges these two questions.
Carpenter, S.K., Pashler, H., Wixted, J. T., & Vul. E.(2008) The effects of tests on learning and forgetting.
In this experiment, you will be given the task of memorizing words and their meanings.
The time between the review quiz and the final test can range from 5 minutes to 42 days.
One of the advantages of conducting experiments in this way is that you can freely change the points you want to investigate.
Still, will the effects last for 42 days?
Also, in the quiz, the experiment participants do not have to write down their answers.
“The only thing you need to do is “remember the answer in your mind.
Will this still help with the quiz?
In the experiment, the participants were grouped into two groups: those who took the quiz and those who did not.
In the groups that did not take quizzes, I repeated the review just to review the words and their meanings.
The total learning time is the same for both groups.
One of the advantages of the experiment is that the learning time can be manipulated and aligned in this way.
Experimental Methods
The 42 participants in the experiment first studied to memorize the words.
After that, the “with quiz” group took a quiz to answer the meaning of the words.
The solution was to simply “visualize the answer in your mind.
In the “no quiz” group, students were only asked to review the meaning of the words.
A final test on the meaning of the words was given 5 minutes to 42 days later.
experimental results
Compared to the “no quiz” group, the “with quiz” group had higher scores on the final test.
The difference in scores between the two groups was almost the same whether the final test was two days or 42 days later.
Just remembering the answers to the test will help.
The quiz had little effect when the final test was given five minutes later.
In other words, the results of the final test were the same for the “with quiz” group and the “without quiz” group.
This means that reviewing immediately after studying (intensive learning) is not effective.
Even if you review in the form of a quiz, it is still not as effective as reviewing right away.
However, when there was an interval between the last test and the first test, the effects of the test were clearly visible.
The effect of this remains well after the final test, which is two days later.
Moreover, the effect of the test is that you only need to “recall it in your mind.
What you need to know in order to study efficiently
- The effects of quizzes are surprisingly long-lasting, so use them more and more.
- For quizzes, just remembering the answers in your mind can help.
So far, we have introduced the timing of the review and the learning method using the dispersion effect.
In order to learn efficiently, it is very important to review well.
Please refer to it.