A reason to be happy about that pop quiz

You might dread your teacher staying “Take out your pencils. It is time for a pop quiz!”

You might think the only purpose of this quiz is for the teacher to figure out if you’ve been paying attention or doing your homework.

But these quizzes actually help you to learn information! That’s right — one of the best ways to study information is to test yourself (or to have your teacher test you by quizzing you on information). This is called the testing effect.

You might be familiar with using flashcards. Each flashcard gives you a question or problem to solve (What is the definition of “portable”? What is 6x8?), and tests your ability to generate the answer. One of the reasons they are so effective in helping you to learn information is that they take advantage of the testing effect!

You can take advantage of the testing effect even when information doesn’t work well on flashcards. If you need to study your spelling words, a good strategy is to ask a friend or sibling to give you a spelling test: They can read the words aloud to you while you try to spell them and get feedback on whether you are correct. Or, if you need to learn the locations of the states in the United States, you can print out a blank map of the United States and test yourself by writing in the locations of the states. Then, look up the right answers on a map and note any errors you made.

This is a great tip to keep in mind all throughout your life. Many adults make the mistake of thinking that the best way to learn information is to keep looking at the answers until they know them. But now you know an even better way to learn information is to find ways to make yourself generate the answers!

So, the next time your teacher asks you to get out your pencil and prepare for a pop quiz, hopefully you won’t dread it! It’s a great way for the teacher to help you successfully learn the information!