Learning Resources:  Self-Help

Practice testing (aka self-testing or retrieval practice)

• Doesn’t just pertain to actual tests; can be any technique where you attempt to retrieve information from memory.

  • Practice questions – use any provided to you, or write your own.

  • Format your notes in a way that fosters self-testing Q&A.

  • Free recall (write or say as much as you can from memory) methods appear to be the most effective, as they do not allow you to rely on cues for answers.

• Do I really know what I think I know?

  • Self-testing provides important feedback on what you know and do not know, allowing for the efficient focus on what you still need to learn.

  • So, don’t save self-testing for just right before an exam. Self-test daily!

• Testing improves learning…

  • The testing effect is an extensively researched and very well established phenomenon.

• …because recalling info strengthens memory traces…

  • The act of retrieving info from memory strengthens the memory trace and thus makes the info more likely to be retrievable in the future.

• …and potentiates subsequent learning.

  • Probably due to increasing mental organization of knowledge and improved metacognition (knowledge about and regulation of learning).

• 50% of study time should be spent reflecting on and recalling newly learned info.

  • Spend less time on the input side, and more time on the output side.

• Practice testing is better with feedback.

  • Check your work, evaluate what you know and don’t know, and make adjustments accordingly.

Distributed Practice (aka spaced review/repetition)

• Spacing study over several sessions rather than in one large chunk (i.e., cramming).

• Allows you to build upon initial learning by adding greater complexity or detail when re-engaging after a delay.

• Promotes long term retention.

  • Better retention than cramming, even when same total study time is used.

• Some flashcard apps use distributed practice scheduling (e.g., ANKI).

• Cramming may feel easier.

  • Familiarity with material does come quicker when massed, but familiarity is not mastery.

  • Easier is not better; the more mental effort we have to exert, the better our learning and retention.

    • Desirable difficulties: learning conditions that create challenges and slow the rate of apparent learning often optimize long-term retention and understanding.

Furthermore, practice testing and distributed practice are even better when you combine them. Spread out your learning, and test yourself repeatedly.

• How much is enough?

  • For initial learning, students should practice recalling until info is correctly retrieved once (twice is even better).

  • For subsequent distributed reviews, there is no clear “magic number” but more is better (depends on the retention interval).

These combined techniques are particularly advantageous when retrieval is continued until items are answered correctly more than once within and across practice sessions, and with longer as opposed to shorter intervals between trials or sessions.