Association questions on knowledge retention

Association questions (AQs) are a novel form of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). To answer an AQ, learners must recall the concepts denoted by the given terms, affirm their connections, and then select the term with a denotation that is “less connected” with other concepts. This research hypothesizes that the use of AQ tests for reviewing course contents can significantly help learners to assimilate and/or accommodate what was covered in class and to store the resulting cognitive structures in long-term memory (LTM). To test this hypothesis, an educational experiment was conducted. The results showed that the use of optional online AQ tests for reviewing course contents helped with knowledge retention and was especially suitable for learners with medium levels of initial knowledge. AQs are easy to answer and grade. Therefore, it should be worthwhile to use AQ tests for formative assessment whenever AQs can be designed to help learners better understand course contents.