Researchers from Iowa State University have found that embedding short quizzes directly into online lectures helps students retain information better — even when they are distracted by something else, such as TikTok videos on the screen.
The study involved over 700 students from universities and colleges in the U.S. and Canada. Participants watched a 20-minute lecture broken into segments, followed by either answering questions or reviewing slides. Final testing showed that those who took the mini-quizzes performed significantly better - on average by 7-8%.
Interestingly, the presence of distractions (memes or muted TikTok videos) had little effect on the results when lectures included quizzes. For those who only reviewed slides, TikTok unexpectedly even increased focus.
Quizzes also nearly eliminated performance gaps between students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds: without testing, the academic gap between Black students and those of Asian, European, and Latino origin was up to 17%; with quizzes, it dropped to 3%. According to the researchers, short questions help students maintain attention and stay engaged, especially for those who struggle to follow online classes.
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Short in-lecture quizzes significantly improve learning outcomes in online education — even if students watch TikTok at the same time
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