McConnell Meghan M, St-Onge Christina, Young Meredith E
Program for Educational Research and Development, Faculty of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, MDCL 3510, Hamilton, ON, Canada,
Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2015 May;20(2):305-20. doi: 10.1007/s10459-014-9529-1. Epub 2014 Jun 29.
Testing has been shown to enhance retention of learned information beyond simple studying, a phenomena known as test-enhanced learning (TEL). Research has shown that TEL effects are greater for tests that require the production of responses [e.g., short-answer questions (SAQs)] relative to tests that require the recognition of correct answers [e.g., multiple-choice questions (MCQs)]. High stakes licensure examinations have recently differentiated MCQs that require the application of clinical knowledge (context-rich MCQs) from MCQs that rely on the recognition of "facts" (context-free MCQs). The present study investigated the influence of different types of educational activities (including studying, SAQs, context-rich MCQs and context-free MCQs) on later performance on a mock licensure examination. Fourth-year medical students (n = 224) from four Quebec universities completed four educational activities: one reading-based activity and three quiz-based activities (SAQs, context-rich MCQs, and context-free MCQs). We assessed the influence of the type of educational activity on students' subsequent performance in a mock licensure examination, which consisted of two types of context-rich MCQs: (1) verbatim replications of previous items and (2) items that tested the same learning objective but were new. Mean accuracy scores on the mock licensure exam were higher when intervening educational activities contained either context-rich MCQs (Mean z-score = 0.40) or SAQs (M = 0.39) compared to context-free MCQs (M = -0.38) or study only items (M = -0.42; all p < 0.001). Higher mean scores were only present for verbatim items (p < 0.001). The benefit of testing was observed when intervening educational activities required either the generation of a response (SAQs) or the application of knowledge (context-rich MCQs); however, this effect was only observed for verbatim test items. These data provide evidence that context-rich MCQs and SAQs enhance learning through testing compared to context-free MCQs or studying alone. The extent to which these findings generalize beyond verbatim questions remains to be seen.
研究表明，测试相比于单纯的学习，能够增强对所学信息的记忆，这种现象被称为测试增强学习（TEL）。研究显示，相对于要求识别正确答案的测试（如多项选择题（MCQs）），要求做出回答的测试（如简答题（SAQs））对测试增强学习的效果更大。高风险的执照考试最近将需要应用临床知识的多项选择题（情境丰富的MCQs）与依赖于识别“事实”的多项选择题（无情境的MCQs）区分开来。本研究调查了不同类型的教育活动（包括学习、简答题、情境丰富的多项选择题和无情境的多项选择题）对模拟执照考试后期表现的影响。来自魁北克四所大学的四年级医学生（n = 224）完成了四项教育活动：一项基于阅读的活动和三项基于测验的活动（简答题、情境丰富的多项选择题和无情境的多项选择题）。我们评估了教育活动类型对学生在模拟执照考试中后续表现的影响，该考试由两种类型的情境丰富的多项选择题组成：（1）先前题目的逐字复制和（2）测试相同学习目标但为新题目的题目。与无情境的多项选择题（M = -0.38）或仅学习项目（M = -0.42；所有p < 0.001）相比，当干预性教育活动包含情境丰富的多项选择题（平均z分数 = 0.40）或简答题（M = 0.39）时，模拟执照考试的平均准确率得分更高。仅逐字题目出现了更高的平均分数（p < 0.001）。当干预性教育活动要求做出回答（简答题）或应用知识（情境丰富的多项选择题）时，观察到了测试的益处；然而，这种效果仅在逐字测试题目中观察到。这些数据提供了证据，表明与无情境的多项选择题或单独学习相比，情境丰富的多项选择题和简答题通过测试增强了学习。这些发现超出逐字问题的普遍程度还有待观察。
