I use quizzes in teaching, but have started to worry that they do more harm than good.

Here's why: We have all learned from "the testing effect" that the act of taking a test is part of the practice that leads to learning.

Say I give my students a multiple choice quiz, immediately after a lecture, to practice. And let's say question looks like this:

"Who wrote The Blank Slate?

[] Steven Pinker

[] Jessie Pinkman

[] Mr Pink"

A student that did not pay much attention at class, may vaguely recognise the second name, so he checks the middle box and moves on.

Has the student now reinforced the incorrect option, and thus created a net negative learning?

And then, as a part two of the same question:

Does it make a difference if the test is done one the same day as the lecture, when the new knowledge is still fluent, or after sleep, when the new knowledge is more firmly stored (and weak memories culled)?

Part three: Does it make a difference if the quiz is on paper, and thus gives no direct feedback, or online, and can indicate the correct answer?

I have searched Google Scholar extensively, but not found anything on this.

I use quizzes in teaching, but have started to worry that they do more harm than good.

Here's why: We have all learned from "the testing effect" that the act of taking a test is part of the practice that leads to learning.

Say I give my students a multiple choice quiz, immediately after a lecture, to practice. And let's say question looks like this:

"Who wrote The Blank Slate?

[] Steven Pinker

[] Jessie Pinkman

[] Mr Pink"

A student that did not pay much attention at class, may vaguely recognise the second name, so he checks the middle box and moves on.

Has the student now reinforced the incorrect option, and thus created a net negative learning?

And then, as a part two of the same question:

Does it make a difference if the test is done on the same day as the lecture, when the new knowledge is still fluent, or after sleep, when the new knowledge is consolidated (and weak memories culled)?

Part three: Does it make a difference if the quiz is on paper, and thus gives no direct feedback, or online, and can indicate the correct answer?

I have searched Google Scholar extensively, but not found anything on this.