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

测试效果（即，在初次学习后练习提取比其他再学习技术更有效的发现）是实验室中关于长期学习的最佳研究结果之一，尽管只有少数研究包括超过一周或两周的延迟。由于一些研究也报告了在现场测试的效果，检索实践已被推荐应用于课堂。然而，检索的做法已被认为是不利于学习更复杂的材料，事实上，一些研究使用复杂的材料没有观察到的测试效果。如果这一假设是正确的，测试在学校教育中的适用性显然会受到影响。相反，如果检索实践被过早地抛弃，认为对更复杂的材料有益，学习者将被剥夺最有效的持久学习技术之一，特别是那些通常学习更复杂主题的人。在我们的项目中，我们想测试一种替代解释，以前的研究结果与复杂的材料，即学习者没有充分理解的主题的时候，巩固阶段开始，这导致了有效的检索实践比不太复杂的材料。因此，我们想验证这样一个假设，即如果学习者在初始学习阶段充分理解了学习材料，或者在练习检索时有机会重新学习材料，即使是复杂的学习材料，测试效果也会发生。我们将在高中11年级的德语课上构建一个课程主题的文本材料（魏玛古典主义运动的文化和历史背景），并操纵他们的命题复杂性。这些材料将在高中教室的五个实验中应用，最终测试延迟八周。此外，我们将采取措施，以增加学习者已经建立了一个足够的知识基础的时候，他们的做法检索或提高它，而他们的做法检索的可能性。在子项目A中，我们将在巩固阶段、额外的初步研究阶段或关于关键概念的预先培训之前采取措施。在巩固阶段，将比较复习和闭卷考试。在子项目B中，我们将在巩固阶段采用一些措施：将开卷测试的两种变体（有提示和没有提示，在没有文本的情况下尽可能多地回忆信息）与复习和闭卷测试进行比较。开卷测试应该联合收割机测试和复习的好处，因此对复杂的材料特别有利。最后，将在一项联合研究中比较这些研究中对复杂材料最有效的措施。这项调查应提供一个基础，（暂定）建议如何最好地理解和巩固复杂的文本。

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.