Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Collin College, Plano, TX 75074, USA.
CBE Life Sci Educ. 2013 Fall;12(3):509-14. doi: 10.1187/cbe.12-10-0183.
Students often complain about their perceived disconnect between the time and effort spent studying and their subsequent performance on exams. Robert Bjork's research asserts that retrieval of stored information acts as a memory modifier, and that using tests as learning events creates "desirable difficulties that enhance learning." To determine the effect of utilizing testing as a learning event in the introductory (majors) biology classroom, we used an online homework platform to give required quizzes throughout the course. Analysis of exam grades earned by those taking 100% of pre-exam quizzes indicates that not only does this group have a significantly higher exam average than the group of students who took 0% of the pre-exam quizzes, but they also have a significantly higher exam average than the class average. Through detailed, statistical analysis, the benefit of quizzing is demonstrated to be significant for students of diverse academic abilities. Pre-exam quizzing using an online homework platform is an effective way to increase student performance on exams and allows class time to be utilized for teaching activities.
学生们常常抱怨他们在学习上投入的时间和精力与随后在考试中的表现之间存在脱节。罗伯特·比约克的研究断言，检索存储的信息可以起到记忆修正的作用，而将测试作为学习事件会产生“有益的困难，从而增强学习效果”。为了确定在基础生物学（主修）课堂上将测试用作学习事件的效果，我们在整个课程中使用在线作业平台提供必修测验。通过分析那些参加了 100%预考测验的学生的考试成绩，我们发现，不仅这一组的考试平均分明显高于那些没有参加预考测验的学生，而且也明显高于全班平均分。通过详细的统计分析，证明测验对不同学术能力的学生都有显著的益处。使用在线作业平台进行预考测验是提高学生考试成绩的有效方法，同时还可以利用课堂时间进行教学活动。
