Sana Faria, Forrin Noah D, Sharma Mrinalini, Dubljevic Tamara, Ho Peter, Jalil Ezza, Kim Joseph A
Centre for Psychology, Athabasca University, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 3S8, Canada.
Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada.
CBE Life Sci Educ. 2020 Sep;19(3):ar43. doi: 10.1187/cbe.19-11-0257.
Learning objectives (LOs) are statements that typically precede a study session and describe the knowledge students should obtain by the end of the session. Despite their widespread use, limited research has investigated the effect of LOs on learning. In three laboratory experiments, we examined the extent to which LOs improve retention of information. Participants in each experiment read five passages on a neuroscience topic and took a final test that measured how well they retained the information. Presenting LOs before each corresponding passage increased performance on the final test compared with not presenting LOs (experiment 1). Actively presenting LOs increased their pedagogical value: Performance on the final test was highest when participants answered multiple-choice pretest questions compared with when they read traditional LO statements or statements that included target facts (experiment 2). Interestingly, when feedback was provided on pretest responses, performance on the final test , regardless of whether the pretest format was multiple choice or short answer (experiment 3). Together, these findings suggest that, compared with the passive presentation of LO statements, pretesting (especially without feedback) is a more active method that optimizes learning.
学习目标（LOs）通常是在学习环节开始前呈现的陈述，描述了学生在该环节结束时应掌握的知识。尽管学习目标被广泛使用，但对其对学习效果影响的研究却很有限。在三项实验室实验中，我们研究了学习目标在多大程度上能提高信息留存率。每项实验的参与者阅读五篇关于神经科学主题的文章，并参加一次最终测试，以衡量他们对信息的留存程度。与不呈现学习目标相比，在每篇相应文章之前呈现学习目标能提高最终测试的成绩（实验1）。主动呈现学习目标增加了其教学价值：与阅读传统学习目标陈述或包含目标事实的陈述相比，当参与者回答多项选择题预测试题时，最终测试的成绩最高（实验2）。有趣的是，当对预测试题的回答提供反馈时，无论预测试题的形式是多项选择题还是简答题，最终测试的成绩都有所提高（实验3）。综合来看，这些发现表明，与被动呈现学习目标陈述相比，预测试（尤其是没有反馈的预测试）是一种更能优化学习的主动方法。
