Practicing retrieval in university teaching: short-answer questions are beneficial, whereas multiple-choice questions are not

Proponents of the testing effect claim that answering questions about the learning content benefits retention more than does additional restudying-even without corrective feedback. In educational contexts, evidence for this claim is scarce and points toward differential effects for different question formats: Benefits emerged for short-answer questions but not for multiple-choice questions. The present study implemented an experimentally controlled, minimal intervention design in five sessions of an existing lecture. In each session, participants reviewed lecture content by answering short-answer questions, multiple-choice questions, or reading summarising statements. An unannounced test measured the retention of learning content. Bayesian analyses revealed a positive testing effect for short-answer questions that was strongest for difficult practice questions. Analyses also provided evidence for the absence of a testing effect for multiple-choice questions. These results suggest that short-answer testing is more beneficial than multiple-choice testing in a higher education context when feedback is not provided.