Presented By: Renee McFee, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Co-Authors: Amy Desaulniers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Retrieval practice promotes learning retention and practice quiz usage has been positively correlated with exam grades in our veterinary physiology course. Unfortunately, not all students were using this resource. Previously, students completed weekly quizzes online and were given multiple attempts on each. Practice quizzes were created using the same question banks as graded quizzes. These practice assessments were made available after students had completed the graded quizzes so students could use them to study for exams. To increase student usage of practice quizzes, we began administering the weekly, graded quizzes during class and students were only given a single attempt. However, students were now given access to practice quizzes beforehand. Following these changes, 89% of students completed all practice quizzes. In contrast, only 42% of students completed more than one practice quiz during the previous year. Students completed an average of 3.7 attempts per practice quiz and 84% perceived practice quizzes to be sufficiently or extremely helpful to their learning. The number of practice quiz attempts was moderately correlated (r = 0.38) with quiz grades but not exam grades. Our evaluation also revealed that 25% of students only completed practice quizzes within the 24-hour window immediately preceding the weekly quizzes and many attempts were submitted during scheduled class periods for other courses. Regardless, no correlations were identified between the timing of practice quiz completion and course grades. Despite the inclusion of several quiz questions on exams, very few students completed practice quiz attempts after taking the graded quizzes. Students in this study primarily used practice quizzes for massed practice rather than spaced practice, and to prepare for quizzes but not exams. Since distributed practice is associated with better learning outcomes, the use of practice assessments to cram before quizzes rather than to intermittently self-test likely limited possible academic gains.