Another explanation for why students opt for low-efficiency review instead of retrieval is that they don’t feel they know the material well enough to test themselves on it. In another experiment, Karpicke had students choose a strategy for learning. Inevitably, students who were performing more weakly elected to review the material first, waiting until they were “ready” to start practice testing. If through experimental intervention, however, they were forced to practice retrieval earlier, they learned more. Whether you are ready or not, retrieval practice works better. Especially if you
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