Testing Encourages Transfer Between Factual and Application Questions in an Online Learning Environment

Quizzing improves retention compared to additional study opportunities, a phenomenon known as test-enhanced learning. Two experiments investigated whether the type of question at quiz improves retention for factual and applied course material on exams in an online college course. Students were given quizzes with either factual questions or questions designed to encourage application of a particular concept. As expected, quizzing with feedback improved exam performance compared to material that had not been quizzed. Further, the benefits of quizzing transferred to different question types. Performance on application exam questions improved if students were quizzed with factual questions. Likewise, performance on factual exam questions improved if students were quizzed with application questions. These results replicate the finding that quizzing benefits retention in an online learning environment and, more importantly, that the benefits of quizzing transfer to exam questions that differ in type from the quiz question.