Test-enhanced learning in medical education

Abstract

Tests should be given often and spaced out in time to promote better retention of information. Questions that require effortful recall produce the greatest gains in memory. Feedback is crucial to learning from tests. Test-enhanced learning may be an effective tool for medical educators to use in promoting retention of clinical knowledge.

Teaching how to expect the unexpected: improving the retention of knowledge for rare clinical events

“…Le rôle des tests dans l'amélioration de l'apprentissage est un concept communément sousapprécié dans l'éducation, comme l'ont récemment rapporté Larsen et coll. 6 Bien que l'étude de GoldhaberFiebert et coll. n'ait pas porté sur cette question, il est intéressant de se poser la question de l'effet que le test donné immédiatement après le cours aurait eu sur la rétention des informations à six mois.…”

“…Les tests qui nécessitent des apprenants qu'ils élaborent leurs propres réponses ont un impact de test plus important que les questions à choix de réponses, et il est possible qu'un test basé sur des questions à réponses courtes aurait eu un impact différent sur la rétention à long terme. 6 Finalement, en raison de l'anonymisation et du concept de l'étude, la rétroaction aux sujets de l'étude des résultats du test à choix de réponses a été quelque peu limitée; pourtant, la rétroaction améliore l'effet de test, et nous avons des données probantes qu'une rétroaction retardée est plus efficace qu'une rétroaction immédiate pour promouvoir la rétention d'informations à long terme. 7 La durée des sessions d'apprentissage est un autre facteur bien connu qui influence la rétention d'informations factuelles.…”

“…There is greatly improved knowledge retention from taking a test compared to simply rereading the material. The role of tests to improve learning is a generally under-appreciated concept in education that has recently been reviewed by Larsen et al 6 Although Goldhaber-Fiebert et al's study did not investigate this issue, it is interesting to speculate on the effect that the test given immediately after the lecture would have on the retention of information at 6 months. Tests that require learners to construct their own responses have a greater testing effect than MCQs, and perhaps a test based on short-answer questions would have resulted in different long-term retention.…”

“…Tests that require learners to construct their own responses have a greater testing effect than MCQs, and perhaps a test based on short-answer questions would have resulted in different long-term retention. 6 Finally, due to anonymization and the study design, feedback of the MCQ results to subjects was precluded to some extent; however, feedback enhances the testing effect, and there is some evidence that delayed feedback is more effective than immediate feedback on promoting long-term retention of information. 7 Another well established influence on the retention of factual information is the duration of the learning sessions.…”

“…They offer many avenues for further research, as educational researchers are only beginning to investigate these psychological phenomena in practical educational settings. 6 The investigators have demonstrated some retention of knowledge; however, how can we assess the meaningful translation of that learning into clinical practice? Miller's pyramid describes a hierarchy of evaluation beginning with the ''knows'' level, followed by the ''knows how'' level where knowledge is applied.…”