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Cognitive scientists and psychology researchers have given growing attention to evidence of the testing effect, that is, the improvement of students' recall through memory-retrieval practice in the form of quizzes and exams. While laboratory experiments consistently show dramatic positive effects on learning through the testing effect, discipline-specific education researchers have sought to generalize these findings in real, instead of simulated classrooms. The objective of this dissertation was threefold: (1) To survey the current literature on the testing-effect as it applies to learning biology at the post-secondary level. In this review, I consider how further research on the testing effect may be useful for instructors' decisions regarding its use. (2) To describe findings from a qua¬si-experimental design in a post-secondary biology class with low and high point incentives and measured student learning. Although exposure to exams predicted better learning, incentive level did not moderate this effect, an outcome that contradicted recent laboratory findings that higher incentives decreased student recall. (3) To describe findings from a study that compared student learning in conditions where cued exams were in place versus conditions in which they were absent. Student learning improved in the former condition relative to the latter. I discuss the implications of the results in all of these studies for further research and application.

Under det senaste decenniet har testbaserat lärande väl etablerats som ett effektivt sätt att främja hållbar inlärning. Många sorters material och omständigheter har utforskats i relation till denna metod. Endast nyligen har dock individuella skillnader i relation till testbaserat lärande fått uppmärksamhet som ett forskningsområde. Ett område hittills förhållandevis outforskat är relationen mellan individuella skillnader i kognitiv kapacitet och inlärningsprocessen med återhämtning som inlärningsmetod. Denna studie hade för avsikt att utforska denna relation genom att mäta generell flytande intelligens och arbetsminneskapacitet för ett urval av gymnasieelever (n = 189, M = 16.89 år gamla) som använde testbaserat lärande som inlärningsmetod. Resultaten indikerar att arbetsminne och flytande intelligens båda är relaterade till inlärningsprocessen, men att det förstnämnda är så till en signifikant högre grad än det sistnämnda. / During the last decade, test-enhanced learning has been thoroughly cemented as an efficient way to promote durable learning. Many materials and conditions have been explored in relation to this method. Only recently, however, have individual differences in relation to test-enhanced learning received attention as an area of study. An area as of yet relatively unexplored is the relationship between differences in cognitive ability and the process of retrieval as a method of learning. The present study set out to explore this relationship by measuring general fluid intelligence and working memory capacity in a sample of upper secondary level students (n = 189, M = 16.89 years of age) who used a test-enhanced learning method. The results indicate that working memory and fluid intelligence are both related to this learning process, however the former to a significantly higher degree than the latter

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A primary goal of education is the acquisition of durable knowledge which challenges the use of efficient pedagogical methods of how to best facilitate learning. Research in cognitive psychology has demonstrated that repeated testing during the learning phase improves performance on later retention tests compared to restudy of material. This empirical phenomenon is called the testing effect. The testing effect has shown to be robust across different kinds of material and when compared to different pedagogical methods. Despite the extensive number of published papers on the testing effect, the majority of the studies have been conducted in the laboratory. More specific, few studies have examined the testing effect in authentic settings when using course material during the progress of a course. Further, few studies have investigated the beneficial effects with test-enhanced learning by the use of neuroimaging methods (e.g. fMRI). The aim with the thesis was to investigate the effects of test-enhanced learning in an authentic educational context and how this is related to individual differences in working memory capacity (Study I and II) as well as changes in brain activity involved in successful repeated testing and long term retention (Study III). In study I, we examined whether repeated testing with feedback benefitted learning compared to rereading of introductory psychology key concepts in a sample of undergraduate students. The results revealed that repeated testing with feedback was superior compared to rereading both immediate after practice and at longer delays. The effect of repeated testing was beneficial for students irrespectively of WMC. In Study II, we investigated test-enhanced learning in relation to the encoding variability hypothesis for the learning of mathematics in a sample of fifth-grade children. Learning was examined in relation to both practiced and transfer tasks. No differences were found for the practiced tasks. Regarding the transfer tasks, the results gave support for the encoding variability hypothesis, but only at the immediate test. In contrast, when we followed up the durability of learning across time, the results showed that taking the same questions over and over again during the intervention resulted in better performance across time compared to variable encoding. Individual differences in WMC predicted performance on the transfer tasks, but only at the immediate test, regardless of group. Together, the results from Study I and Study II clearly indicate that testenhanced learning is effective in authentic settings, across age-groups and also produces transfer. Integrate current findings from cognitive science, in terms of test-enhanced learning, by the use of authentic materials and assessments relevant for educational goals can be rather easily done with vi computer based tasks. The observed influence of individual differences in WMC between the studies warrant further study of its specific contribution to be able to optimize the learning procedure. In Study III, we tested the complementary hypothesis regarding the mechanisms behind memory retrieval. Recurrent retrieval may be efficient because it induces representational consistency or, alternatively, because it induces representational variability - the altering or adding of underlying representations as a function of successful repeated retrieval. A cluster in right superior parietal cortex was identified as important for items successfully repeatedly retrieved Day 1, and also correctly remembered Day 7, compared to those successfully repeatedly retrieved Day 1 but forgotten Day 7. Representational similarity analysis in this region gave support for the theoretical explanations that emphasis semantic elaboration.

It is well established that repeated testing is more beneficial for durable learning than repeated studying of the same material, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. This study sought to investigate the role of working memory capacity (WMC) in relation to the learning process and the difficulty of the material to be learned when using a test-enhanced learning method. As between subject manipulation, participants (n = 99, M = 25.62 years of age) were divided into two groups, one using repeated studying and one using alternated testing and studying. A material of two difficulty levels, as well as immediate and delayed retention tests, was used in each condition as within subject manipulation. Further, an n-back task was used to measure WMC. Results from mixed model ANOVAs showed no significant impact of WMC on either the learning process or retention in relation to the difficulty of the material. The testing condition performed significantly higher than the studying condition on the retention tests. The testing effect is further cemented as a promising method for practical application in the educational sector regardless of both WMC and difficulty level. / Det är väl etablerat att upprepad testning är mer fördelaktigt för hållbar inlärning än upprepad instudering av samma material, ett fenomen känt som testeffekten. Denna studie ämnade undersöka arbetsminnets roll i relation till inlärningsprocessen och svårighetsgrad av material med testbaserat lärande som metod. Som mellangruppsmanipulation delades deltagare (n = 99, M = 25.62 år gamla) in i två grupper, en som upprepade gånger studerade materialet och en som alternerade studerande med tester. Ett material med två svårighetsgrader och ett direkt samt fördröjda retentionstester användes som inomgruppsmanipulation. Vidare användes ett n-backtest som mått på arbetsminneskapacitet. Resultat visade ingen signifikant inverkan av arbetsminne på varken inlärningsprocessen eller retention i relation till svårighetsgrad av material. Testbetingelsen presterade signifikant högre på retentionstest än studiebetingelsen. Testeffekten fastställs ytterligare som lovande metodik för praktisk applikation i utbildningssektorn oberoende av både arbetsminneskapacitet och svårighetsgrad.