{"id":22990,"date":"2025-09-15T16:34:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T09:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/?p=22990"},"modified":"2026-03-22T22:55:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T15:55:47","slug":"exploring-learning-landscapes-in-academic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/vi\/2025\/09\/15\/exploring-learning-landscapes-in-academic\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking intermittent quizzes reduces achievement gaps and enhances online learning, even in highly distracting environments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"22990\" class=\"elementor elementor-22990\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7c9c6c8 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7c9c6c8\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-75a82b0\" data-id=\"75a82b0\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9a53172 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9a53172\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Inserting brief quiz questions into an online lecture can boost learning and may reduce racial achievement gaps, even when students are tuning in remotely in a distracting environment.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That\u2019s a main finding of\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44271-025-00234-5\">our recent research<\/a>\u00a0published in Communications Psychology. With co-authors\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/dahwiahn.wordpress.com\/\">Dahwi Ahn<\/a>, Hymnjyot Gill and\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.szpunarmemorylab.com\/\">Karl Szpunar<\/a>, we present evidence that adding mini-quizzes into an online lecture in science, technology, engineering or mathematics \u2013 collectively known as STEM \u2013 can boost learning, especially for Black students.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In our study, we included over 700 students from two large public universities and five two-year community colleges across the U.S. and Canada. All the students watched a 20-minute video lecture on a STEM topic. Each lecture was divided into four 5-minute segments, and following each segment, the students either answered four brief quiz questions or viewed four slides reviewing the content they\u2019d just seen.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This procedure was designed to mimic two kinds of instructions: those in which students must answer in-lecture questions and those in which the instructor regularly goes over recently covered content in class.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">All students were tested on the lecture content both at the end of the lecture and a day later.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">When Black students in our study watched a lecture without intermittent quizzes, they underperformed Asian, white and Latino students by about 17%. This achievement gap was reduced to a statistically nonsignificant 3% when students answered intermittent quiz questions. We believe this is because the intermittent quizzes help students stay engaged with the lecture.<\/span><\/p><div class=\"slot clear\" data-id=\"17\"><div class=\"promo\"><div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\"><div class=\"bg-gray-50 text-gray-900 rounded pt-3 pb-5 px-4 bg-gray-50 transition-colors duration-300 mb-4\"><div><h3 class=\"mb-2 break-words font-sans-heading text-lg font-semibold text-gray-800\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Understand how AI is changing society<\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><button class=\"inline-block max-w-full cursor-pointer break-words rounded border-none px-4 py-2 font-sans text-base font-semibold tracking-wide text-white transition-colors duration-300 bg-indigo-600 hover:bg-indigo-800\" type=\"button\">Get our newsletter<\/button><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To simulate the real-world environments that students face during online classes, we manipulated distractions by having some participants watch just the lecture; the rest watched the lecture with either distracting memes on the side or with TikTok videos playing next to it.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Surprisingly, the TikTok videos enhanced learning for students who received review slides. They performed about 8% better on the end-of-day tests than those who were not shown any memes or videos, and\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44271-025-00234-5\">similar to the students who answered intermittent quiz questions<\/a>. Our data further showed that this unexpected finding occurred because the TikTok videos encouraged participants to keep watching the lecture.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For educators interested in using these tactics, it is important to know that the intermittent quizzing intervention\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jarmac.2016.10.004\">only works if students must answer the questions<\/a>. This is different from asking questions in a class and waiting for a volunteer to answer. As many teachers know, most students never answer questions in class. If students\u2019 minds are wandering, the requirement of answering questions at regular intervals brings students\u2019 attention back to the lecture.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This intervention is also different from just giving students breaks during which\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0749596X18300500\">they engage in other activities<\/a>, such as doodling, answering brain teaser questions or playing a video game.<\/span><\/p><h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Why it matters<\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Online education has grown dramatically since the pandemic. Between 2004 and 2016, the percentage of college students enrolling in fully online degrees rose from 5% to 10%. But by 2022, that number\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/fastfacts\/display.asp?id=80\">nearly tripled to 27%<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Relative to in-person classes, online classes are often associated with\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-023-50962-z\">lower student engagement<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.org\/10.3102\/0162373711413814\">higher failure and withdrawal rates<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Research also finds that the racial achievement gaps documented in regular classroom learning\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/ccrc.tc.columbia.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/online-learning-practitioner-packet.pdf\">are magnified in remote settings<\/a>, likely due to\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S2352250X23000775\">unequal access to technology<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Our study therefore offers a scalable, cost-effective way for schools to increase the effectiveness of online education for all students.<\/span><\/p><h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What\u2019s next?<\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We are now exploring how to further refine this intervention through experimental work among both university and community college students.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As opposed to\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.org\/10.1007\/s10648-023-09759-9\">observational studies<\/a>, in which researchers track student behaviors and are subject to confounding and extraneous influences, our randomized-controlled study allows us to ascertain the effectiveness of the in-class intervention.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Our ongoing research examines the optimal timing and frequency of in-lecture quizzes. We want to ensure that very frequent quizzes will not\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jarmac.2017.07.002\">hinder student engagement or learning<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The results of this study may help provide guidance to educators for optimal implementation of in-lecture quizzes.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-8a99bc1 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8a99bc1\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-29607d9\" data-id=\"29607d9\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap 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https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shutterstock_1760879942-scaled-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shutterstock_1760879942-scaled-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-aa00662\" data-id=\"aa00662\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f089f19 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"f089f19\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/course-73-1-768x512.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-15254\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/course-73-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/course-73-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/course-73-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/course-73-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dakanvics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/course-73-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inserting brief quiz questions into an online lecture can boost learning and may reduce racial achievement gaps, even when students are tuning in remotely in a distracting 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