ERIC Number: EJ1265929
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0888-4080
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Available Date: N/A
Regaining Access to Marginal Knowledge in a Classroom Setting
Butler, Andrew C.; Black-Maier, Allison C.; Campbell, Kathryn; Marsh, Elizabeth J.; Persky, Adam M.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, v34 n5 p1005-1012 Sep-Oct 2020
Students learn large amounts of information, but not all of it is remembered after courses end -- meaning that valuable class time is often spent reviewing background material. Crucially, laboratory research suggests different strategies will be effective when reactivating previously learned information (i.e. "marginal knowledge"), as opposed to learning new information. In two experiments, we evaluated whether these laboratory results translated to the classroom. Topics from prior courses were tested to document which information students could no longer retrieve. Half were assigned to a not-tested control and half to the intervention; for these topics, students answered multiple-choice questions (without feedback) that gave them the chance to recognize the information they had failed to retrieve. Weeks later, students completed a final assessment on all topics. Crucially, multiple-choice testing increased the retrieval of previously forgotten information, providing the first classroom demonstration of the reactivation of marginal knowledge.
Descriptors: Multiple Choice Tests, Prior Learning, Retention (Psychology), Recall (Psychology), Remedial Instruction
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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