- Title: Feedback enhances the positive effects and reduces the negative effects of multiple-choice testing
- Authors: Butler and Roediger
- Access the original paper here
- Listen to a deep-dive podcast:
Paper summary
This research examines the effects of multiple-choice testing on learning, finding that while testing improves retention (the testing effect), it can also lead to the acquisition of misinformation from incorrect lure items. The study investigates how providing feedback after the test, either immediately or later, impacts both correct and incorrect responses on a subsequent recall test. Results show that feedback significantly enhances the positive effects of testing and reduces the negative effects of misinformation. The timing of feedback (immediate versus delayed) also influences performance, with delayed feedback generally proving more beneficial. Finally, the study explores how students’ confidence in their answers correlates with their actual performance.
What are the key implications for teachers in the classroom?
- Provide Feedback After Multiple-Choice Tests: This is a key takeaway from the research. Students learn from multiple-choice tests, both the correct answers and the incorrect ones. Teachers should provide feedback to students after these tests to help them correct errors, retain correct answers, and reduce the amount of misinformation learned from incorrect answers.
- Delayed Feedback May Be More Effective: While immediate feedback can be helpful, the research suggests that delaying feedback may be more beneficial for learning. This delay allows incorrect responses to fade from memory, making it easier for students to learn the correct answers.
- Testing Benefits Retention, Even with Errors: Even when students make errors on multiple-choice tests, taking the test still benefits their learning and retention of the material. This finding highlights the power of retrieval practice and the testing effect.
- Prior Study Matters, but Feedback Can Help: The amount of studying students do before a multiple-choice test has a significant impact on their performance. However, providing feedback can help to level the playing field. Students who study less can still benefit greatly from feedback.
- The Number of Lures Can Influence Misinformation: While increasing the number of lures on a multiple-choice test can make it harder to guess correctly, it also increases the chances of students learning incorrect information. Teachers need to balance this trade-off when designing tests.
- Students Believe in Misinformation: Even when students receive feedback, they may still believe in the misinformation they learned from incorrect answers. This belief in misinformation highlights the importance of addressing errors directly and helping students develop strategies for evaluating the accuracy of their knowledge.
- Free Report Can Help Reduce Intrusions: Allowing students to omit answers on a recall test (“free report”) can help to reduce the number of intrusions (incorrect answers learned from the previous multiple-choice test). However, it’s important to note that students also tend to omit correct answers under free report conditions. This suggests that students may need help in differentiating between correct and incorrect answers and in developing confidence in their knowledge.
- Consider Test Design and Difficulty: When designing multiple-choice tests, teachers should carefully consider the number of lures, the plausibility of those lures, and the overall difficulty of the test. These factors can influence both the positive and negative effects of testing on learning.
These findings suggest that multiple-choice tests can be valuable learning tools when used strategically. By providing feedback, particularly delayed feedback, and by thoughtfully designing tests, teachers can harness the power of retrieval practice to enhance student learning and minimize the negative effects of exposure to misinformation.
What do the researchers mean by “feedback”?
The research recommends providing feedback that includes an indication of accuracy (correct/incorrect), a re-presentation of the question, the response the student selected, and the correct response. This type of feedback allows students to evaluate the accuracy of their initial response and encode the correct response
While the sources don’t specifically state this, it’s likely that this recommended type of feedback allows students to revisit their thought process when answering the question and see where they might have gone wrong. This could be especially helpful when the student selected a lure on the initial multiple-choice test.
The research also suggests that simply indicating whether the answer is correct or incorrect is less effective than providing the correct answer. This is likely because just knowing an answer is wrong doesn’t provide the student with the correct information. However, receiving the correct answer allows the student to correct their understanding and learn from the mistake.
Quote
A pragmatic solution to the possible negative effects of multiple-choice tests is to ensure that students always receive feedback after testing. Feedback enhances the positive effects of taking a test and helps students correct their errors, thereby reducing the acquisition of misinformation.
