Tag Archives: retrieval practice

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Can Multiple-Choice Tests Really Help Students?

Surprise: a well-designed multiple choice question might in fact help students. Why? Because it requires extra retrieval practice to sort out all the answers. Continue reading



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Study Advice for Students: Getting the Specifics Just Right

To get the best benefits from “retrieval practice,” teachers can try this strategy to reassure and motivate nervous students. Continue reading



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The Best Teaching Book to Read This Summer: Powerful Teaching

Powerful Teaching, by Agarwal and Bain, combines research and practical classroom strategies. The result: an ideal book for teachers who want to improve our practice. Continue reading



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A Rose by Any Other Name Would Smell as Confusing

All too often, psychology discussions use confusing — or worse, deliberately cheerful — terminology. Teachers should seek out direct and neutral terms to simplify and clarify our discussions. Continue reading



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Meet Blake Harvard, “Effortful Educator”

An interview with Blake Harvard: high-school psychology teacher, and Effortful Educator. Continue reading



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The Better Choice: Open- or Closed-Book Quizzes

As predicted by research into “retrieval practice,” closed-book quizzes do in fact help students learn better than open-book quizzes do. Once again, the right kind of difficulties can be desirable in school. Continue reading



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Can Teachers Be Trusted to Evaluate Research?

Too often, teachers hear that our judgment about classroom applications of scientific research isn’t to be trusted. And yet, teacher judgment is essential when applying research in the classroom. Given that psychology research affects classroom practice only when teachers use it, why put down the teachers who are essential partners in this process? Our field should focus not on competition, but on respectful collaboration. Continue reading



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Good News! Contradictory Research on Desirable Difficulties…

As we regularly emphasize here on the blog, attempts to recall information benefit learning. That…



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The Limits of Retrieval Practice, Take II…

Just two weeks ago, I posted about a study showing potential boundary conditions for retrieval practice:…



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The Limits of Retrieval Practice: A Helpful Case Study

Here on the blog, I write A LOT about the benefits of “retrieval practice.” (For…



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