An Answer Before Looking

Written by Studio AM.

An answer can feel familiar without being easy to recall. A learner may see a leaf beside the word “oak” and know the pair at once. If the word is covered, naming the leaf takes more work.

That effort can help memory. The learner must search for the answer instead of only seeing it. This is called retrieval practice: trying to bring learned information back to mind. A wrong attempt may also reveal what is missing, and accurate feedback can help correct the mistake.

Useful practice is neither copying nor blind guessing. For new material, an example may come first. A good prompt gives enough of a clue to guide the search. It hides enough to make the learner produce the answer. The effort should aim at knowledge that will be needed later.

Questions

Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you answer.

  1. Question 1 of 4

    What is the main idea of the passage?

  2. Question 2 of 4

    Why can a wrong attempt sometimes help a learner?

  3. Question 3 of 4

    What does “prompt” mean in the final paragraph?

  4. Question 4 of 4

    What may come first when material is new?

Score: none answered yet.

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