The testing effect and the complexity of the learning material: The adequacy of the knowledge base as a moderator?

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The testing effect (i.e., the finding that practicing retrieval after initial study is more effective than other restudy techniques) is one of the best-researched findings on long-term learning in the laboratory, although only a few studies have included delays longer than one or two weeks. Since several studies have also reported testing effects in the field, retrieval practice has been recommended to be applied in the classroom. However, retrieval practice has been suggested to be not beneficial for learning with more complex materials and, indeed, several studies using complex materials did not observe a testing effect. If this assumption was true, the applicability of testing in school education would clearly be compromised. Conversely, if retrieval practice is prematurely discarded as beneficial for more complex materials, learners would be deprived of one of the most effective techniques for lasting learning, especially those who are typically learning more complex subject matter. In our project, we want to test an alternative explanation for previous findings with complex materials, namely that learners had not adequately understood the subject matter by the time the consolidation phase started, which resulted in less effective retrieval practice than with less complex materials. Thus, we want to test the hypothesis that the testing effect will occur even with complex learning materials if learners adequately understand the learning material in the initial learning phase or have the opportunity to restudy the material while practicing retrieval.To test our assumption, we will construct text materials on a curricular topic in 11th-grade German classes in high school (the cultural and historic context of the Weimar Classicism movement) and manipulate their propositional complexity. These materials will be applied in five experiments in high school classrooms with a final test delay of eight weeks. In addition, we will apply measures to increase the likelihood that learners have built an adequate knowledge base by the time they practice retrieval or to improve it while they practice retrieval. In Subproject A, we will apply measures before the consolidation phase, an additional initial study phase or a pre-training on key concepts. In the consolidation phase, restudying and a closed-book test will be compared. In Subproject B, we will apply measures during the consolidation phase: two variants of open-book tests (with vs. without prompts to recall as much information as possible without the text) will be compared to restudying and a closed-book test. Open-book tests should combine the benefits of testing and restudying and should therefore be particularly advantageous for complex materials. Finally, the most effective measures for complex materials in those studies will be compared in a joint study. This investigation should provide a basis for (tentative) recommendations on how to best comprehend and consolidate complex texts.