Enhancing learning through testing: Investigating the practical uses and theoretical understanding of the forward testing effect.

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Recent research has provided promising evidence that administering interpolated tests during learning can prospectively enhance learning and retention of new information, a phenomenon termed the forward testing effect (FTE). For instance, asking people to recall the content after studying each section of a text passage, by comparison with restudying each section, can double the recall of the next section. This prospective benefit of interpolated testing has been shown to enhance learning and recall of foreign-translation word pairs, text passages, lecture videos, artists' painting styles, and other types of information; it reduces mind-wandering (i.e., zoning out) and enhances note-taking; it not only enhances memory of specific content but also improves knowledge integration (e.g., comprehension of texts and lecture videos). Given that people's study effort (e.g., attention, motivation) tends to decline across a study phase and attenuated study effort leads to a reduction in learning efficiency and impaired learning outcomes, it is important to explore effective strategies to sustain study effort and maintain learning efficiency across a study phase, such as the FTE.Although the empirical findings are promising, many critical features of the FTE are yet to be fully understood. Without a much deeper exploration of its mechanisms and boundary conditions, its practical significance and theoretical basis, as well as educational translation and exploitation, will be hindered. Therefore, the main aims of the current project are to develop a full account of the FTE and to apply this technique to enhance educational practice.Several explanations have been proposed to explain how and why interpolated testing facilitates the learning of new information, and the first aim of the current project is to test these accounts. For instance, we recently proposed an expectancy-motivation theory: Repeated tests cause increasing test expectancy, which combines with metacognitive awareness of the difficulty of achieving successful recall to create enhanced learning motivation. To test this theory, the current research will measure test expectancy, learning engagement (e.g., attention, note-taking, mind-wandering), and test performance. Cutting-edge experimental (e.g., pre-registration) and statistical analysis (e.g., Bayesian multilevel mediation analysis and structural model fitting) methods will be employed.The second aim is to investigate the boundary conditions and moderators of the FTE. Are interpolated tests beneficial for everyone? Put differently, who will benefit or suffer from repeated testing? Does test difficulty matter? Can partial testing (that is, only partial contents are tested) induce the prospective benefits as effectively as testing on all contents? Are the forward benefits long-lasting? Several studies are proposed to explore these critical questions.A key and innovative aim is to explore the practical (and educational) utility of the FTE. Several studies are proposed to investigate (1) the FTE in the classroom; (2) whether repeated testing can reduce test anxiety; (3) whether learners appreciate the prospective benefits of interpolated tests (metacognitive awareness) and administer self-tests during learning (metacognitive control); (4) whether interpolated tests can be profitably employed as a remedial technique to mitigate older adults' learning and memory deficits.Overall, the work proposed in this application will allow key critical features of the FTE to be better understood and facilitate exploitation of its theoretical and practical significance for learners, educators, and researchers.