Much to the no-doubt-dismay of students out there, who maintain loudly that, well, they’ve studied the material, so why bother testing it … it appears that testing actually helps folks remember better than just studying.
Perhaps equally important, this study demonstrates that students who rely on repeated study alone often come away with a false sense of confidence about their mastery of the material.
In an experiment in which students either took quizzes or were permitted to study material repeatedly, students in the study-only group professed an exaggerated confidence, sure that they knew the material well, even though important details already had begun slip-sliding away. The group that took tests on the material, rather than repeatedly reading it, actually did better on a delayed test of their knowledge…
(via BoingBoing)