Testing Is More Desirable When It Is Adaptive and Still Desirable When Compared to Note-Taking

Testing is a well-established desirable difficulty. Yet there are still some open issues regarding the benefits of testing that need to be addressed. First, the possibility to increase its benefits by adapting the sequence of test questions to the learners’ level of knowledge has scarcely been explored. In view of theories that emphasize the benefits of adapting learning tasks to learner knowledge, it is reasonable to assume that the common practice of providing all learners with the same test questions is not optimal. Second, it is an open question as to whether the testing effect prevails if stronger control conditions than the typical restudy condition are used. We addressed these issues in an experiment with N = 200 university students who were randomly assigned to (a) adaptive testing, (b) non-adaptive testing, or note-taking (c) without or (d) with focus guidance. In an initial study phase, all participants watched an e-lecture. Afterward, they processed its content according to their assigned conditions. One week later, all learners took a posttest. As main results, we found that adaptive testing yielded higher learning outcomes than non-adaptive testing. These benefits were mediated by the adaptive learners’ higher testing performance and lower perceived cognitive demand during testing. Furthermore, we found that both testing groups outperformed the note-taking groups. Jointly, our results show that the benefits of testing can be enhanced by adapting the sequence of test questions to learners’ knowledge and that testing can be more effective than note-taking

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

On Optimising the Use of Practice Quizzing: Benefits Increase by Adapting and May Depend on Learners’ Achievement Motives

Heitmann S. On Optimising the Use of Practice Quizzing: Benefits Increase by Adapting and May Depend on Learners’ Achievement Motives. Bielefeld: Universität Bielefeld; 2022

The quizzing effect depends on hope of success and can be optimized by cognitive load-based adaptation

It is well established that quizzing fosters learning. However, some gaps in the literature relating to the fit of quizzing to learner characteristics and learner perceptions during quizzing still need to be addressed. The present study focuses on two of these aspects: achievement motives and perceptions of cognitive load. First, quizzing entails that learners’ performance is judged against some standard of excellence. This might make it appealing and effective for learners with high hope of success and low fear of failure in particular. Second, it is an open question whether providing quiz questions that are adapted to learners’ perceived level of cognitive load during quizzing would be beneficial. To address these questions, we randomly assigned learners to either non-adaptive quizzing, adaptive quizzing, or note-taking. We found that quizzing benefits concerning learning outcomes were moderated by hope of success. Furthermore, the adaptation via cognitive load ratings substantially increased the quizzing effect

Testbasiertes Lernen. Sollten Lernende adaptive Testaufgaben erhalten?

Heitmann S, Grund A, Berthold K, Fries S, Roelle J. Testbasiertes Lernen. Sollten Lernende adaptive Testaufgaben erhalten? Presented at the 51. Kongress der DGPs, Frankfurt, Deutschland

Adaptive Testing Increases the Testing Effect. In J. Roelle (Chair), How to optimize retrieval-based learning?

Heitmann S, Grund A, Berthold K, Fries S, Roelle J. Adaptive Testing Increases the Testing Effect. In J. Roelle (Chair), How to optimize retrieval-based learning? . Presented at the 18th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), Aachen, Germany

The quizzing effect depends on hope of success and can be optimized by cognitive load-based adaptation

Heitmann S, Grund A, Fries S, Berthold K, Roelle J. The quizzing effect depends on hope of success and can be optimized by cognitive load-based adaptation. Learning and Instruction. 2022;(77): 101526

The influence of achievement motives and adaptivity on practice quizzing

Quizzing ist eine äußerst effektive Methode zur Nachbereitung von Lernepisoden. So führt das Beantworten von Quiz-Fragen aus dem Gedächtnis zu höherem Lernerfolg als unspezifisches Nachbereiten, wie beispielsweise das erneute Durcharbeiten des Lernmaterials oder Note-Taking (sog. Testing Effect). Jedoch liegt die Vermutung nahe, dass der oftmals wahrgenommene Prüfungscharakter von Quizzing für Lernende mit einer stark ausgeprägten Furcht vor Misserfolg abträgliche Effekte haben könnte. Umgekehrt könnten Lernende mit einer stark ausgeprägten Hoffnung auf Erfolg umso stärker von Quizzing profitieren. Des Weiteren legt Forschung aus dem Bereich der Cognitive Load Theory nahe, dass sich eine Anpassung von Quizfragen an die subjektive kognitive Belastung der Lernenden förderlich auf den Lernerfolg auswirken könnte. Solchermaßen adaptives Quizzing könnte demnach effektiver sein als nicht-adaptives Quizzing. In dem vorliegenden Experiment mit N = 160 Studierenden wurde untersucht, (a) ob der förderliche Effekt von Quizzing gegenüber Note-Taking vom Leistungsmotiv (Furcht vor Misserfolg und Hoffnung auf Erfolg) der Lernenden moderiert wird und (b) ob das Verwenden von Quiz-Fragen, deren Schwierigkeit an die kognitive Belastung der Lernenden angepasst ist (adaptives Quizzing), die positiven Auswirkungen des Quizzing weiter steigert. Die Probanden wurden randomisiert einer von drei Bedingungen (adaptives Quizzing vs. non-adaptives Quizzing vs. Note-Taking) zugeteilt. Alle Probanden beantworteten zunächst Fragen zu ihrem Leistungsmotiv und arbeiteten anschließend an PCs in einer digitalen Lernumgebung, in der sie sich zunächst eine E-Lecture ansahen. Die Probanden der Quizzing Bedingungen beantworteten in der folgenden Nachbereitungsphase offene Quiz-Fragen. In der adaptiven Bedingung hing die Schwierigkeit der Fragen von der subjektiven kognitiven Belastung ab; in der nicht-adaptiven Bedingung nahm die Schwierigkeit der Fragen kontinuierlich zu. In der Kontrollbedingung Note-Taking machten sich die Probanden Notizen zur E-Lecture um die Lerninhalte nachzubereiten. Eine Woche später wurde ein Lernerfolgstest durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass der Testing Effect vom Leistungsmotiv der Lernenden abhing: je höher die Hoffnung auf Erfolg, desto höher der Testing Effect. Außerdem fanden wir, dass adaptives Quizzing zu höherem Lernerfolg als nicht-adaptives Quizzing führte. Somit scheint eine an die kognitive Belastung der Lernenden angepasste Gabe von Quiz-Fragen die Effektivität von Quizzing weiter steigen zu können, insbesondere dann, wenn Lernende daran interessiert sind, ihr Wissen zu testen