testing

In conjunction with National HIV Testing Day Monday, June 27, Washington University School of Medicine is teaming with the City of St. Louis Department of Health to offer free, confidential tests for HIV and syphilis.

Practice may not always make perfect, but a novel study of Midwestern middle school science students suggests it just might. New research from Washington University in St. Louis shows that students who received three quizzes on content questions before a unit test performed at the “A” level on those test questions, compared with a “C” level on questions that were not quizzed beforehand but still on the test.

Washington University will host The Center for Academic Integrity’s 18th Annual International Conference Oct. 16-18, 2009. Several hundred students, faculty and staff from around the world will discuss the practice and philosophy of academic integrity, focusing on issues germane to both college and high school education. The conference theme is “Creating a Culture of Integrity: Research and Best Practices.”

A flurry of recent research has documented that talking on a cell phone poses a dangerous distraction for drivers and others whose attention should be focused elsewhere. Now, a new study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology finds that just the ring of a cell phone may be equally distracting, especially when it comes in a classroom setting or includes a familiar song as a ringtone.

Using what cognitive psychologists are discovering in the laboratory to improve learning in the classroom is the goal of a $6.47 million collaborative activity grant to Washington University from the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

Using what cognitive psychologists are discovering in the laboratory to improve learning in the classroom is the goal of a $6.47 million collaborative activity grant to Washington University from the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

“Incorporating more frequent classroom testing into a course may improve students’ learning and promote retention of material long after a course has ended,” Roddy Roediger says.

Repeated testing vs. repeated studyingRemember the dreaded pop quiz? Despite their reputation as a cruel tool of teachers intent on striking fear into the hearts of unprepared students, quizzes — given early and often — may be a student’s best friend when it comes to understanding and retaining information for the long haul, suggests new psychology research from Washington University in St. Louis. More…