Metacognitive awareness of the pretesting effect improves with self-regulation support

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Learning Sciences

Background:

• The pretesting effect is a counterintuitive phenomenon where testing, even with errors, enhances subsequent learning if correct answers are studied.
• Learners often exhibit metacognitive biases, overestimating the efficacy of passive study methods like reading compared to active retrieval practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate learners' metacognitive awareness of the pretesting effect.
• To examine the impact of external support (feedback, reminders, prompts) on developing awareness of the pretesting effect.

Main Methods:

• A knowledge updating paradigm involving multiple cycles of pretesting versus reading, followed by criterial tests.
• Learner predictions of performance were used to gauge metacognitive awareness.
• Experimental manipulation of external support mechanisms.

Main Results:

• Learners generally lack awareness of the memorial benefits of pretesting.
• Participants consistently favored reading over pretesting, even after repeated experience.
• External support significantly improved learners' recognition of pretesting's efficacy.

Conclusions:

• Learners' beliefs about the efficacy of pretesting are often inaccurate and resistant to change.
• Metacognitive awareness of the pretesting effect requires external support to overcome ingrained biases.
• Interventions can help dislodge inaccurate beliefs and promote understanding of effective learning strategies.