Pretest, an educational strategy in which teachers offer risk-free tests to students before They have learned a topic and are getting high marks in cognitive research.
During one study, a group of college students who took pretests before learning outperformed a separate group who only took posttests. For the study, researchers conducted five experiments with 1,573 students and found that students who received a pre- or post-lesson test learned more than those who did not receive one, and that those who received a pre-test had the highest scores on subsequent tests.
He study was published in The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied and provides evidence in support of educators conducting pretests or practice questions before the lesson.
“Pretests aren't as good (which, in itself, is somewhat surprising), but they are potentially even better than a much more established technique of taking practice tests after learning has occurred,” says Steven C. Pan, lead author of the study and director of the Learning Sciences Laboratory at the National University of Singapore.
Despite the benefits discovered in this and other recent studies, pretests remain underused, Pan says. One reason it is not more widely adopted is that students have a hard time believing that testing themselves on material they don't they know can help them. “The counterintuitive nature of pretests is precisely why they are overlooked as a way to improve learning,” Pan says.
Here's what you need to know about pretesting and how you can overcome these preconceptions about it.
Evidence Supporting Previous Testing
Pan has also participated in other recent studies demonstrating the potential positive outcomes of pretesting, also known as misgeneration. Pan was the main author of a comprehensive review of existing research on pretesting. The review was published in September and found that “pretests can benefit learning if there is an opportunity to study the correct answers afterwards” and “this effect of prequestions or pretests has been successfully demonstrated with a variety of learning materials.
For one study, Undergraduate students watched an online lecture accompanied by pretests or a control algebra problem-solving activity. Pretests led to significantly fewer mental distractions and better performance on the final test than the control activity.
Despite growing evidence of its effectiveness, previous evidence remains largely overlooked. “Pretests are still fairly unknown, and even when teachers ask questions before a more formal lesson, they usually do so for diagnostic purposes rather than as a way to enhance learning because that is the traditional use of pretests.” says Pan.
For another paper, Pan and colleagues conducted surveys among college students and instructors at three public universities in North America. They found that understanding of the potential of pretesting was lacking. Many students were reluctant to make errors during learning, and although many instructors welcomed the concept, few provided students with resources that facilitated the generation of errors.
Implementation of pretests in the classroom
Pan encourages educators to consider incorporating low- or no-stakes pretesting into their classes.
“It is a learning strategy that is very promising,” he says. “Teachers can use it without fear that it will have negative consequences, and it will most likely have very positive consequences for student learning.”
And he adds: “It is a way of presenting a topic, it is a way of getting students to pay more attention to a lesson.”
Another advantage is that it is an easy-to-implement pedagogical strategy, says Pan. There are a multitude of educational technology tools available for create and share questionsof Google Forms to questionnaire and questionnaire to the testing function that is built into most learning management systems. Or you can use technology as simple as pencil and paper, hand out tests, or simply put the questions on the board and ask students to write down the answers.
Prelims Shouldn't Be Stressful
To add low-stakes pretests without adding stress, Pan advises letting students know that these tests are not something to worry about. “If the instructor has a very positive and encouraging attitude, he should say, 'This is just an exercise related to the course material.' Don't worry about failing or getting all of these questions wrong. That's good because you'll learn the right information later.'”
Although advocates of the strategy often make such efforts, sometimes the conversation about pretesting is incorrectly intertwined with debates about high-stakes end-of-year testing and standardized testing, which is an entirely different conversation.
“There are some statements that some educators make like, 'Tests don't teach,'” he says. “That's not true, you actually learn a lot from tests. Tests actually change one's knowledge and understanding. Every time you remember information or try to generate the answer to a test question, that in itself influences learning.”
