Effectiveness of test-enhanced learning on learning outcomes in the self-study phase of the flipped classroom

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Background: Assessments are tools used to measure the knowledge and progress of students. It is usually associated with anxiety and fear among the students and additional work for the teachers. Taking tests repeatedly on previous learning materials has positive effects in that it is a powerful method of learning and helps to retain long-term memory. This is called the testing effect or test-enhanced learning. One of the student-centered active learning methods is the flipped classroom, which provides instructors with opportunities to engage a wide range of learning styles. Hence, the present study is undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of test-enhanced learning on the learning outcomes in the flipped classroom. Materials and Methods: The students who gave informed consent were divided into two groups by a simple randomization method. Four histology topics were chosen. During the self-study phase, one group was given learning material in the form of PowerPoint, and the other group was given questions and asked to find the answers regarding the same topic. During the in-class session, both groups had an assessment consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions through Google Forms, followed by a routine interactive discussion session. For the next topics, the groups were crossed over. Results: The mean scores of the two groups were compared using Students’ unpaired t -test. Mean scores were higher in the testing effect group, and the scores were statistically significant. Conclusion: Hence, we conclude that the testing effect is having a positive influence on the learning abilities of the students and their knowledge.