Only a few studies have investigated retesting as a means of maintaining the retention of learning. The present study investigates the effects of placement and number of retests within the first week after a unit of instruction on the 28-day retention of information and intellectual skills. The study was pursued at Fort Rucker, Alabama in the context of the Warrant Officer Candidate Military Development Course with 80 Army Warrant Officer Candidates (WOCs). Seven treatments were employed consisting of differing arrangements of 0, 1, or 2 retests after all WOCs received a test on the final day of instruction. / Four parallel test forms were developed for treatments requiring repetitive testing of the same WOCs. Map reading and Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) defensive measures were used as subject matter on two tests. / No differences were apparent among treatment means for either a total test score or subscores based on intellectual skills and information items. A significant difference was found between means for all WOCs on both information and intellectual skills items. Information was retained somewhat better. All of the above tests used means expressed as the percentage of original learning. A significant correlation was also found between original (end of course) learning and 28-day retention, a finding well founded in the literature. / Content by domain and treatment by domain interactions were also observed, although they cannot be inferred beyond the experimental setting. That condition is due to the widely varied number of items on which the various scores are based, invalidating the otherwise applicable statistical test. Content is also confounded with instructional setting: lecture or self-paced. / These results provide a good basis for further research on methods of retesting as they affect retention and for selection of factors that may differentially affect the learning of information and intellectual skills. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-10, Section: A, page: 4338. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74307 |
| Contributors | LARSEN, JOSEPH YOUNG, III., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 130 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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