This study compares the effectiveness of multiple-choice (MC) and constructed-response (CR) study tasks both with feedback. Graduate students (n = 46) completed a computer-delivered vocabulary lesson on instructional design terms followed by cued recall and recognition posttests. The CR study task was significantly more effective than the MC study task on the recognition posttest, but not on the cued recall posttest. Designers should consider expanding the use of CR study tasks in similar instructional cases.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BartlettJ. C. (1977). Effects of immediate testing on delayed retrieval: Search and recovery operations with four types of cue. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 3, 719–732.
2.
BergC. A.SmithS. (1994). Assessing students' abilities to construct and interpret line graphs: Disparities between multiple-choice and free-response instruments. Science Education, 78(6), 527–554.
3.
BrownJ.PackhamD. W. (1967). Effect of prior recall on multiple-response recognition. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 19, 356–361.
4.
ClarianaR. B.LeeD. (2001). The effects of recognition and recall study tasks with feedback in a computer-based vocabulary lesson. Educational Technology Research and Development, 49, 12–20.
5.
ClarianaR. B.WagnerD.Rohrer-MurphyL. C. (2000). A connectionist description of feedback timing. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48, 5–11.
6.
CooperA. J. R.MonkA. (1976). Learning for recall and learning for recognition. In BrownJ. (Ed.), Recall and Recognition (pp. 115–140). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.
7.
CuddyL. J.JacobyL. L. (1982). When forgetting helps memory: An analysis of repetition effects. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 21, 451–467.
8.
DickW.CareyL. (1996). The systematic design of instruction (4th ed.). New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
9.
d'YdewalleG.SwertsA.de CorteE. (1983). Study time and test performance as a function of test expectations. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8, 55–67.
10.
FoltzP. W.KintschW.LandauerT. K. (1998). The measurement of textual coherence with latent semantic analysis. Discourse Processes, 25, 285–307.
11.
GloverJ. A. (1989). The “testing” phenomenon: Not gone but nearly forgotten. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(3), 392–399.
12.
JacobyL. L. (1978). On interpreting the effects of repetition: Solving a problem versus remembering a solution. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 17, 649–667.
13.
JonassenD. H.TessmerM. (1996). An outcome-based taxonomy for instructional systems design, evaluation, and research. Training Research Journal, 2, 11–46.
14.
KennedyJ. J.BushA. J. (1985). An introduction to the design and analysis of experiments in behavioral research (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
McDanielM. A.BlischakD. M.ChallisB. (1994). The effects of test expectancy on processing and memory of prose. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 19, 230–248.
17.
McDanielM. A.MasonM. E. J. (1985). Altering memory representations through retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 11, 371–385.
18.
MorrisonG. M.RossS. M.GopalakrishnanM.CaseyJ. (1995). The effects of feedback and incentives on achievement in computer-based instruction. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20, 32–50.
19.
NeelyJ. H.BalotaD. A. (1981). Test-expectancy and semantic-organization effects in recall and recognition. Memory and Cognition, 9, 283–300.
20.
NitkoA. J. (1996). Educational assessment of students (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
21.
RunquistW. N. (1986). The effect of testing on the forgetting of related and unrelated associates. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 65–76.
22.
SalomonG. (1983). The differential investment of mental effort in learning from different sources. Educational Psychologist, 18(1), 42–50.
23.
SquireL. R.ZolaS. M. (1996). Structure and function of declarative and non-declarative memory systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 93, 13515–13522.
24.
TitusA. A.CarrierC. (1980). The effects of pretraining and test mode expectations on note taking. Paper presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Boston, MA, April 7–11, 1980. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service # ED 193336)
25.
TobiasS. (1973). Review of the response mode issue. Review of Educational Research, 43, 193–204.
26.
WilliamsJ. P. (1963). Comparisons of several response modes in a review program. Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 253–260.
27.
WilliamsJ. P. (1965). Effectiveness of constructed-response and multiple-choice programming modes as a function of test mode. Journal of Educational Psychology, 56, 111–117.
28.
WilliamsJ. P. (1966). Combining response modes in programmed instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 57, 215–219.
29.
YonelinasA. P. (2002). The nature of recollection and familiarity: A review of 30 years of research. Journal of Memory and Language, 46, 441–517.
