flexible assessment
other factors to look into:
- pyschology of testing - how does presence of test affects motivation
- time pressure in examination
- student’s perception of testing
- how does standardized testing affect instruction focus
interesting visualizations:
- map of frequency of test
- index of importance of test on future outcome
Student tend to ‘cram’ for exams. This is great for short-term memory retrieval, but bad for long term knowledge retention. Related Spaced Practice
Traditional school structure not ideal for long term memory retention
- Schools often include a revision period of a few weeks leading up to high-stakes cumulative exasms.
- School curiculum tend to teach a topic once and then intensely review the topics with students weeks before the exams, instead of encouraging spaced practice
assumption that test score is a reliable index of performance
exam practice may lend to over-optimization for exam format rather than familiarizing with the material itself
Testing as a form of Retrieval Practice, there are other forms of retrieval practice, ie. concept mapping
But high pressure exam may undermine the effect of retrieval practice: . On the quizzes themselves, students performed equally well. However, those in the high-pressure condition did not perform as well on a criterion test later compared to the low-pressure group. Thus, test anxiety may reduce the learning benefit of retrieval practice. See Hinze & Rapp
For example, research by Weinstein, Gilmore, Szpunar, and McDermott ( 2014 ) demonstrated that when students expected to be tested, the increased test expectancy led to better-quality encoding of new information. Frequent testing can also serve to decrease mind-wandering – that is, thoughts that are unrelated to the material that students are supposed to be studying (Szpunar, Khan, & Schacter, 2013
Reading list: Test-potentiated learning: Distinguishing between direct and indirect effects of tests
Testing as a signal of importance admist competing priorities (Retrieval-induced forgetting,
Limitation of current research on testing:
- Studies are often done with simple laboratory materials (word or paired associate lists) which differs from actual content
- Studies are done in the time frame of weeks, which may not be reflective of long term knowledge retention / application
- does not account for Transfer Approriate Processing
Format of LAS discourages testing to be seen as a learning resource:
- no feedback given
- seen as a gatekeeper, a means to an end- no revision needed
- encourages crammping
students don’t quite see testing as a study resource
So should we regularly schedule mid-stake / low-stake examination?
Just how reflective / effective is test score on our ability
Should kids even be evaluated?