Transfer of the Testing Effect: Just How Powerful Is It?

摘要

Researchers have repeatedly showed that when students take a test on the studied materials, theirretention of information increases on later exams. The memory gain produced by tests is calledthe testing effect. The testing effect has been demonstrated with different materials (e.g., wordlists, prose), with different designs (e.g., within-subjects, between-subjects), with different agegroups and with different settings (e.g., laboratory, classroom). This thesis offers a novelapproach to the assessment of the testing effect: the transfer of the testing effect. Althoughresearch on the testing effect has been flourishing over the last decade, transfer of the effect hasnot been studied systematically. In this context, the transfer of the testing effect refers to whethera learner can utilize the memory gain produced by tests in different contexts. The present studyexamined the transfer of the testing effect in the temporal domain which refers to retention of thetesting effect over a period of time (Experiment 1, Experiment 2, Experiment 3 and Experiment4), the knowledge domain which refers to transfer of the testing effect across different levels oflearning (Experiment 1, Experiment 2 and Experiment 3) and the modality domain whichconcerns how the format of the tests influence the testing effect (Experiment 4). In addition tothe laboratory studies, Experiment 3 was conducted in an actual classroom setting incorporatingreal classroom curriculum. The study revealed that the testing effect endures over a long periodof time varying between 1 and 12 weeks and is transferable across different levels of learning(i.e., lower level and higher level). Furthermore, the testing effect is affected by the differencesin the format of tests. The transferability of the testing effect across different domains indicatedthat the testing effect reflects more than rote learning. The findings of the study were discussedin light of two competing theoretical orientations explaining the testing effect: the retrievalhypothesis and the transfer-appropriate processing framework. Additionally, the practicalimplications of the study were discussed in relation to the educational system.