The Testing Effect in the Lecture Hall: Does it Transfer to Content Studied but Not Practiced?

Abstract

Practice tests have been shown to be an effective means to foster long-term retention in higher education, at least compared to restudying (i.e., the testing effect). The present study replicated and extended prior research by examining whether and to what extent the positive effects of testing on long-term retention in a typical psychology lecture transfer to content presented only during initial learning (and not practiced). Using a within-subjects design, we alternated post-lecture multiple-choice practice tests and restudying opportunities in two psychology classes ( N = 67). One week after the final lecture session of a cycle of six weekly lecture sessions, retention of learning content was assessed by comparing performance on questions referring to content practiced via testing, encountered via restudying, or unreviewed. We found a testing effect for practiced content, whereas no transfer effect occurred for untested content from the same lecture sessions. These results show that the testing effect is a powerful learning tool, but also suggest a possible boundary condition pertaining only to explicitly tested content. Practice testing should be integrated regularly in higher education courses to foster long-term retention for a final test. However, educators should take care that important content is fully covered in practice tests.