Testing Effect

A Further Examination of Open-book and Closed-book Test Formats

Authors

  • Olesya Senkova Central Michigan University
  • Hajime Otani Central Michigan University
  • Reid L. Skeel Central Michigan University
  • Renée L. Babcock Central Michigan University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v1i1.15

Keywords:

Keywords: testing effect; open-book tests; long-term retention; learning

Abstract

Abstract. If assessment is the purpose of testing, open-book tests may defeat the purpose. However, a goal of education is to build knowledge, and based on the literature, open-book tests may not be inferior to closed-book tests in promoting long-term retention of information. Participants studied Swahili-English pairs and either re-studied or took an initial quiz, which was cued recall or recognition in an open-book or closed-book format. One week later, the final closed-book recognition test showed higher performance in the quizzed conditions than in the study-twice condition, replicating the testing effect. However, performance was similar across the quizzed conditions, indicating that testing promoted long-term retention regardless of test format (open-book versus closed-book) and test type (cued recall versus recognition). Open-book tests are not inferior to closed-book tests in building knowledge and can be particularly useful in online classes because preventing cheating is difficult when closed-book tests are administered online.

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Published

2018-11-03

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2018): Fall 2018

Section

Articles

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