The "Testing Effect" in Undergraduate Endodontic Education: The Impact of Regular Low Stakes Testing on Learning
M Kalyva1, K Kavvadia1, L Louca2
1Department of Dentistry, European University, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Aim:
This study investigates the impact of regular testing on learning outcomes in undergraduate endodontic education. Specifically, it examines whether students perform better at the end of the course on previously tested material compared to non-tested material and explores the role of students' engagement and perceptions of testing in this effect.
Methodology:
A within-participants experimental design was employed with 81 third-year dental students enrolled in a preclinical endodontics course. Students were tested on half of the course lectures (tested material) immediately after each lecture, while the remaining lectures served as a control (non-tested material). Testing was conducted using multiple-choice questions on the Blackboard Learn platform with immediate automated feedback. Final exam scores for tested and non-tested material were compared, and a subset of students (n = 44) completed a questionnaire assessing cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, and perceptions of testing.
Results:
Students scored significantly higher on tested material (Mean = 25.284, SD = 4.202) compared to non-tested material (Mean = 21.111, SD = 3.847). The mean difference between the two scores was statistically significant with a very large effect size (F1,80 = 108.329, p < 0.001, ηp 2 = 0.575). The difference remained significant with a moderate to large effect size after accounting for the grade in the previous course and sex (F1,78 = 9.392, p = 0.003, ηp 2 = 0.107). Emotional engagement was found to moderate the effectiveness of testing, with students reporting higher emotional engagement showing greater gains from the intervention.
Conclusions:
The findings demonstrate a robust testing effect in undergraduate endodontic education, supporting the hypothesis that retrieval practice enhances learning outcomes. These results suggest that integrating regular, low-stakes testing into dental curricula can enhance dental students' learning outcomes at the end of the course.
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