Use frequent low-stakes quizzes rather than rare high-stakes tests

Regular short quizzes — even without grades — produce more retention than equivalent time spent reviewing.

Why it works

The testing effect occurs regardless of whether the test is graded. What matters is the act of retrieval: generating an answer from memory. Frequent low-stakes tests also reduce test anxiety (by making testing familiar) and provide ongoing diagnostic feedback, allowing the learner to identify gaps before high-stakes evaluations. The cumulative retrieval effect across many small tests exceeds the effect of infrequent large ones, because more retrieval events occur.

How to do it

1. At the end of each learning session, write 3–5 questions that the material answers, without looking at the source.
2. Answer them from memory immediately.
3. Keep a running question bank and test yourself on older questions from prior sessions.
4. Do not review just before a quiz — test cold, then study the gaps.

Evidence

Multiple studies have shown that frequent low-stakes quizzing improves final examination performance. Roediger and colleagues’s classroom research found that quiz groups outperformed restudy groups on end-of-year tests without spending more time. (rct)

Benefits are strongest for factual and conceptual material; the transfer to complex problem-solving skills requires additional practice structures beyond simple quizzing.

Sources

• Roediger, Putnam & Smith (2011), Ten benefits of testing and their applications to educational practice, Psychology of Learning and Motivation

Common mistake

Making quizzes too easy by using recognition formats (multiple choice from a list) rather than free recall — recognition tests produce much weaker retrieval practice benefits.