ABSTRACT
A perennial challenge for students at any level is the retention, recall, and application of knowledge. One method consists of memory recall exercises, which involve short in-class writing exercises designed to activate students’ memory of previously covered course material into the course of instruction. Modern researchers have devoted significant attention to assessing techniques meant to improve students’ ability to recall information. Experiments have tested retention through direct methods such as recall and recognition exercises. Multiple scholars have conducted experiments related to the testing effect with mixed results. Phillip Ballard pioneered experiments in 1913 showing an increase in children’s ability to recall poetry passages through testing. Ballard concluded that testing yields positive effects such as reminiscence, where individuals recall material on future tests that was not recalled on previous tests. Memory recall exercises entailed providing students a short prompt asking them to write everything they could recall about a specific topic previously covered in the course.
