RETRIEVAL PRACTICE: WHICH FACTORS SHOULD EDUCATORS PAY ATTENTION TO?

Ekuni, Roberta; Pompeia, Sabine

doi:10.1590/2175-35392020220284

Brasil

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PAPER • Psicol. Esc. Educ. 24 • 2020 • https://doi.org/10.1590/2175-35392020220284 linkcopy

RETRIEVAL PRACTICE: WHICH FACTORS SHOULD EDUCATORS PAY ATTENTION TO?

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Retrieval practice, or the testing effect, is a study technique that involves trying to remember information to which we were previously exposed. Although this practice increases the long-term-retention of information compared to traditional study techniques, among several other advantages with ample scientific evidence, this strategy is not usually the most often used among students. Educators should help students to use this technique in their daily lives. In order to optimize its applicability, this article discusses which factors interfere in this practice, including: the importance of feedback, the way in which retrieval practice is carried out and the response format, the number of repetitions of retrieval attempts to recall information and the interval between these repetitions. The appropriation of knowledge about these factors positively influences the implementation of this technique in the classroom, thus promoting evidence-based education.

Keywords: cognitive processes; learning; memory

Factor	What it consists of	Recommendation for educators
Feedback	Tell students if answers were correct or not.	ALWAYS give students access to the correct answers to activities that involve the retrieval practice.
Test format and features	Example: multiple-choice, open-ended answer questions, fill-in-the-blank.	Try to provide retrieval practice opportunities for your students, preferably involving some cognitive effort (open-ended questions), either by doing exercises, or by asking them to come up with questions for classmates to answer.
Exam format/final exam	Exam formats may or may not be the same as those that provide opportunities for retrieving (e.g. multiple-choice, open-ended questions).	Ideally, exams and finals should not be in the same format as the retrieval practice attempts used to study the content. This allows the assessment of transfer of information to another context, in addition to creating another opportunity to practice retrieval.
Characteristics of test response modalities	Typed, spoken, written or covert answer modalities and open or closed book exams.	Response modality does not matter as long as students try to remember the content. In the cases of open book exams/test, do not inform students of this or, if you do, explain that if they study more they will find the answers in the support material more easily.
Number of repetitions of retrieval practice opportunities.	How often retrieval practice be repeated regarding each content.	Retrieval practice opportunities regarding each taught content should occur at least once. More repetitions increase memory, but returns are progressively lower and not always possible to do in real classroom contexts.
Intervals between retrieval practice opportunities.	The length of time between retrieval practice opportunities regarding the same content.	Preferably repeat retrieval practice opportunities regarding the same content in a distributed manner over time and not on the same day.

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Associação Brasileira de Psicologia Escolar e Educacional (ABRAPEE) Associação Brasileira de Psicologia Escolar e Educacional (ABRAPEE), Rua Mirassol, 46 - Vila Mariana , CEP 04044-010 São Paulo - SP - Brasil , Fone/Fax (11) 96900-6678 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
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