A Comparison of the Effects of Practice Tests and Traditional Review on Performance and Calibration |
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| Authors: | Linda Bol Douglas J Hacker |
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| Institution: | 1. Old Dominion University;2. University of Utah |
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| Abstract: | The impact of practice tests on students' calibration and exam performance for multiple-choice and essay items was investigated. The participants were 59 graduate students enrolled in 1 of 2 sections (practice tests and no practice tests) of an introductory research methods in education course. Practice tests were associated with significantly lower scores on the midterm multiple-choice items and less accurate predictions and postdictions on those items. High-achieving students were more accurate in their calibrations than low-achieving students. Among low-achieving students, prediction and postdiction accuracy was significantly higher for essay than for multiple-choice items. In open-ended responses, a large percentage of students who took the practice tests indicated that they were a beneficial review strategy. |
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| Keywords: | calibration instructional strategies metacognition testing |
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