Retrieval Practice or How to Never Throw Your Old Worksheets Away
By: Leah Goldberg, EDD
Unlike the boundless capacity of long-term memory storage in the brain, which is primarily located in the neocortex, my office space is limited. I keep my oh-so-precious EFL worksheets and sample exams in a few messy binders, tucked away on the hard-to-reach shelves. Everything is digital now, and I no longer need this material. Once a year, during the spring cleaning time, I remember these forsaken worksheets, determined to free up some space on the shelves. I recall Marie Kondo’s teachings, take stacks of them into my hands, and ask myself: “Do they spark joy?” The answer is clear: “Definitely, no!” The verdict is unforgiving: “Throw them away!” But I don’t. Why is that? Cognitive neuroscientists would know the answer. It’s because I look at what’s inside.
Learning rests on memory
Let me explain. Do you remember the basic memory model? It’s the teacher’s ABCs. According to the model, we use our attention to selectively pick information from the environment, which then enters our sensory memory for a few seconds. It then travels into a working memory (originally termed short-term memory), which maintains and manipulates information for current tasks. Oakley et al. (2021) liken working memory to an octopus with four hands to illustrate that most of us can keep about four pieces of information in mind at once—this is how little we can handle at a given time. What happens next? For information to become part of our long-term memory, where knowledge is stored indefinitely, it first needs to be encoded. Encoding happens when the brain uses what we already remember to make sense of the new input. It then needs to be consolidated with the hippocampus and other parts of the brain (a lot of it happens during sleep), and then repeatedly retrieved over time, strengthening pathways to long-term memory. Will it stay there forever or at least for a long time? It depends.
Why is that? It is because we, humans, tend to forget. Figure 1 below shows the famous Ebbinghaus forgetting curve. Back in the 1880s, Ebbinghaus first documented the exponential rate at which newly acquired information is forgotten when no effort is made to retain it. Ebbinghaus demonstrated that memory retention follows an exponential decay, then levels off. He showed that without active review, we lose much of what we learn within hours or days. Specifically, he found that roughly 60-70% of information is forgotten within 24 hours if not reviewed (Figure 1).
Luckily, he also discovered that this rate of forgetting can be dramatically reduced through spaced repetition—reviewing the material at strategic intervals. Each subsequent review not only restores memory strength but also helps flatten the curve and improve retention.
This fundamental understanding of memory decay and reinforcement has profound implications for educational practice, particularly in language learning. Frequent retrieval opportunities can help us consolidate knowledge and counteract the natural forgetting process (Ebbinghaus, 1885/1913; Murre & Dros, 2015).
The case for retrieval practice
So we know that unless we do something to retain the information, we will forget it. The question then is, what should we do about it? The scientists who study the brain already know the answer.
In the seminal study, Roediger and Karpicke (2006) investigated how different study strategies affect long-term retention. In their study, participants were divided into two groups: one group repeatedly studied the material (Study-Study-Study-Study), while the other group studied once and then took three practice tests (Study-Test-Test-Test). After five minutes, students who re-read the material did significantly better (83%) than those in the retrieval condition (73%). However, in a week, those who retrieved performed significantly better (61%) than those who restudied the material (40%). This finding demonstrates that retrieval practice (testing) enhances long-term memory retention more effectively than additional study sessions, even when no feedback is provided during the tests.
So, what is retrieval practice? Simply put, “retrieval practice means drawing ideas you’re starting to learn from your own mind rather than simply looking at the answer” (Oakley et al., 2021, p. 8). It’s like drawing the net in the ocean of your own learning, and then inspecting how many and what fish you caught. Arguably, retrieval is one of the best techniques for strengthening new information in long-term memory. Why is that? The answer may partly be that retrieval amplifies the teacher’s job. As Agarwal and Bain (2019) pointed out, when students are retrieving, they are also encoding (p. 87).
Retrieval practice occurs when learners pull the ideas from their minds after some period of forgetting. Learners strain their memory to recall what they have been learning, rather than simply looking at the answer. |
Benefits of retrieval or what will bring you joy
Retrieval practice is one of the most effective learning strategies, validated across decades of research, disciplines, and age groups (Adesope et al., 2017; Latimier et al., 2021; Rowland, 2014). The effectiveness of retrieval practice is considered one of the most robust findings in the learning sciences. It has also been studied in EFL contexts, with research consistently demonstrating its effectiveness in enhancing language learning outcomes, especially concerning vocabulary acquisition (Aljabri, 2024; Nakata, 2021), vocabulary retrieval direction (L1 to L2 vs. L2 to L1) (Terai et al., 2021).
Its consistent benefits make it a valuable tool for encoding and enhancing long-term retention. Imagine that it is like the cherry blossom. No matter which part of the world it’s planted and attended to, sakura is beautiful, and it sparks joy. Likewise, retrieval practice helps learning blossom. Below are some of the benefits of retrieval practice, highlighted by Agarwal and Bain (2019, p. 38):
- Improves students’ learning and long-term retention of information learned.
- Identifies students’ gaps in knowledge.
- Increases students’ metacognition, higher-order thinking, and awareness of how they learn.
- Increases students’ engagement and attention in class.
- Increases students’ mental organization of knowledge.
How to use retrieval practice
OK, now it’s your turn. If you are reading these lines, you have read or skimmed the beginning of the article. Before you continue, take a break for a few seconds and jot a few notes on what you have read so far. What can you say about the memory model? What is retrieval practice, and what’s so special about it? Do not re-read the article, just dump out whatever you remember. This mental effort is disrupting but will make you retrieve what you just read about from your memory. At this point, it has been barely encoded, and this exercise will help you to start consolidating it.
This is a bit irritating, right? You were ready to continue reading, and this alone should have been enough. But you were interrupted and asked to retrieve what you didn’t know you forgot. Yes, that’s the idea behind it. Let’s continue.
Retrieval practice in the EFL classroom
So, how do we harness the power of retrieval in our EFL classrooms without making students feel like they’re perpetually taking exams? Here are some approaches that will help you enhance your students’ learning experience:
1. Incorporate low-stakes quizzing or the “testing effect”
Retrieval is sometimes referred to as a “testing effect.” Use this testing not for assessment but as a tool of learning. Begin or end classes with quick, no-pressure quizzes on previously covered material. The emphasis here is on “low-stakes”—these should be seen as learning opportunities, not evaluation tools. As Pan and Rickard (2018) found, even practice tests with no grade attached produce substantial learning benefits.
Try flash cards with target vocabulary or grammar structures from previous lessons. Ask students to recall as many new words as they remember. Let them choose the correct form, or find a mistake, or give an example of what they have learned. The opportunities are endless. Students can test themselves or each other in pairs. Doing it together, playfully, reduces anxiety while maintaining the cognitive benefits—a win-win that even your most test-anxious, shy students can embrace. Do not grade them. When it comes to vocabulary, do not think that it should be elaborate and complex tasks. A study by Folse (2006) suggests that frequent, low-stakes vocabulary retrieval activities (like multiple fill-in exercises or flashcard practice) might be more effective than less frequent but more elaborate creative writing tasks when the goal is vocabulary retention.
2. Embrace the blank page
We know from experience that in most cases, having students generate language from memory rather than recognize or select it is more challenging and time-consuming. However, this pushes retrieval to its most beneficial form. Create opportunities for students to embrace this difficulty: ask them to free-write using target structures, tell a quick story incorporating specific vocabulary, and do so-called “brain dumps” where students write everything they remember about a topic, or re-tell the story or the clip they saw during previous lesson, or quickly share their opinion. The struggle will be real and—helpful for memory consolidation.
3. Use the power of spacing
To retrieve, the learners need to pull the information out of their memory, intentionally remember. For this to happen, they first have to forget a little. How much time has to pass before you ask them to retrieve? You can wait until the end of the lesson, or the next lesson, or a few lessons after. The retrieval can also occur a few weeks or months apart. Research has shown spacing out retrieval attempts optimizes long-term retention (Cepeda et al., 2006; Karpicke & Roediger, 2007; Roediger & Pyc, 2012; Latimier et al., 2021). Each retrieval attempt reactivates and strengthens memory pathways, creates desirable difficulty, which boosts encoding and consolidation. It helps to combat the forgetting curve (Figure 1) because it streamlines the flow of information from the hippocampus and neocortex and consolidates information over time.
Instead of dedicating an entire unit to one vocabulary set or language concept and then never revisiting it (because the students are responsible for their learning anyway), surprise them with a review of old material in new contexts and tasks. Like unfamiliar sites slowly becoming recognizable and even dear to you, these reappearances strengthen the neural pathways associated with the material.
4. Involve everyone
At first glance, retrieval practice might seem similar to asking your students, “So what did we learn last lesson?” at the beginning of the session, getting a few answers from the front row students, and proceeding with the new topic. This is far from the truth. We might think that when other students hear the answer, it activates their memories as well. It might be, but this is not retrieval. For them, it remains a simple review. Only a few who answered had a chance to retrieve, and only if they didn’t look at their notes beforehand.
The key to retrieval practice is to design activities that every student in the class can do. Here, technological tools may be very handy. But even without them, you can create entry or exit tickets, ask them to answer questions with thumbs up or down, or write a question on the board before they enter the class. Or use an ingenious individual whiteboard suggested by Agarwal and Bain (2019), where the students put a piece of paper or cardboard in the plastic file holder and use a whiteboard marker to write their answers on the plastic surface, which they show to the teacher. No matter what retrieval practice you do, try to involve everyone. You might be surprised how much insight you might get from the habitually silent students.
Climbing the retrieval mountain
Let’s face it, for students, retrieval is not always fun. It can feel harder than passive review, re-reading of notes, or asking you a question. Students (and teachers) often prefer the path of least resistance. Unless we are mindful of it and take steps against it, we will all do what’s easier and faster. For example, Yan et al. (2014) confirmed that students tend to choose less effective but easier learning strategies when left to their own devices. Students often confuse familiarity with mastery. After reading something several times, they feel they know it—but recognition is not the same as recall. As Kornell and Bjork (2009) discovered, students typically overestimate their learning when reviewing material and underestimate the benefits of retrieval practice.
Be explicit with students about this phenomenon. On every possible occasion, mention its benefits. Encourage them, praise the effort, and let them try again. The “why” here matters. When students understand why you’re making them struggle, they’re more likely to embrace the process rather than resent it.
For us, the instructors, retrieval may not be only fun either. At the beginning, it might take some time to prepare retrieval activities and dive deeply in our lesson or course objectives. We also need to form new teaching habits of incorporating them into our language teaching practices, and learn how to provide timely and efficient feedback. Retrieval attempts without feedback can, in fact, reinforce errors and lead to error preservation or fossilization. On the other hand, when implemented correctly, it can lead to the exact opposite. Butler et al. (2008) found that feedback after retrieval practice significantly enhanced its benefits, especially for incorrect responses.
Most common mistakes
The report titled “Retrieval Practice: Myths, mutations and mistakes” by Evidence Based Education (2023), identifies the most common mistakes in the implementation of retrieval practice (pp. 12-15). The first mistake is not asking students to retrieve from memory. Pulling information from long-term memory is the key. Thus, allowing students to look at their notes, look at the board, or the textbook to refresh their memory just before the practice defeats the purpose. The goal is to help them exercise their long-term memory, not to answer correctly.
The second most common mistake is not ensuring that retrieval practice is low stakes. If the students know that the purpose of the retrieval activity is to strengthen their learning, getting a grade for it would encourage them to cheat. The best course of action would be not to grade it at all, even though having so many graded assessments means so much to the teacher. A good way is to use self-check quizzes, allow students to self-check the answers, or provide the answer key and feedback immediately. I never grade the retrieval practice, and I also have students do some activities anonymously. I am consistent with explaining how important it is for consolidating knowledge, and I’ve noticed that students participate more willingly, and they are more relaxed, as they are also ready to see how well they know.
The third mistake is prioritizing task design over question design. Teachers may get inspired to create different tasks and activities for retrieval practice. Yet, good questions are central to effective retrieval practice in the classroom. Like in a worksheet, no matter how neat and comprehensive it is, its effectiveness mostly depends on the quality of the questions on it. Anyone who has tried to create exam questions or good multiple-choice options would attest to it.
Last but not least, retrieval practice should achieve a “desirable level of difficulty” (Bjork and Bjork, 2011). That is, retrieval tasks or questions have to be effortful to engage the students and make them exercise their memory. If they are too easy or too challenging, retrieval practice may not be successful. What it means is that tasks may need to be adjusted slightly for each group of students, as you implement your retrieval practices from semester to semester.
Implementation tips
As language instructors, we know very well that emotions are not separate from cognition but are integral components of the learning process (Fredrickson, 2001; Immordino-Yang & Damasio, 2007; Zeidner, 2014). This applies both to the students and to us, their teachers. The success of retrieval practice in your classroom will partly depend on how you feel about it, and the tips below reflect this. By acknowledging and incorporating the emotional component of learning, we become better teachers.
Tips on how to start implementing retrieval practice in your classroom:
- Start small: Begin with one retrieval activity per class session. Start with the class that you like and have a good working relationship with. It will give you confidence.
- Explain the why: Help students understand the cognitive science behind retrieval practice. Knowledge is power and—a major motivator.
- Create routines: Regular retrieval activities create predictability and reduce anxiety. You don’t have to do retrieval practice at the beginning of every single lesson, but your class needs to know that you routinely retrieve. It’s like grandma checking her blood pressure to know when to take that extra medicine.
- Vary formats: Mix written, oral, individual, and small group or pair retrieval activities to maintain engagement. We know that the brain is wired to detect changes and differences in the environment, rather than constants (Kandel et al., 2013). Sousa (2016) explains that this “novelty bias” has significant implications for learning—new, different, or unexpected information attracts more attention and is processed more deeply by the brain than familiar content.
- Embrace technology: Digital tools like Quizlet, Kahoot, or even Google or LMS (Moodle) quizzes can automate feedback; shared platforms like Padlet can make it fun and transparent. If you teach virtually on Zoom or MS Teams, you can use polls for quick, anonymous quizzing.
Tips on what to do with your feelings and emotions:
- Clench the urge to help. Retrieval requires mental effort, and students often struggle. You might quickly discover that they know much less than you or they imagined. You might feel bad for them and get an urge to help them, that is, to review or to repeat. Resist it. Don’t be a five-year-old who couldn’t delay instant gratification and ate her marshmallow (Mischel et al., 1972). After retrieval practice reveals what they do or don’t know, give feedback and re-teach, but don’t do it as they retrieve.
- Celebrate struggles: Reframe difficult retrieval attempts as evidence of learning, not failure–theirs or your own. Students need to know that this is how they best learn and test their knowledge, much like a grandma checks her daily blood pressure. “But how can you celebrate their struggle?” you may ask. “Doesn’t it show that I failed as a teacher?” I’ll tell you a secret: You can celebrate students’ struggles only when you appreciate your own. More on this in a separate article.
- Be patient: The benefits of retrieval practice compound over time, but may not be immediately apparent either to you or to your students. Monitor their progress, stay strong, and continue. You will see the results of your efforts in the final exam marks, course evaluations, or heartfelt appreciation notes from your most struggling students.
Conclusion or what to do with old worksheets?
Retrieval practice is a year-round cherry blossom in your classroom. When implemented correctly, it works wonders and brings you joy. Why does it work? It helps the students to store what you teach in the long-term memory, signaling to their brain what’s important to know. Long-term retention might involve some struggle, but if they and you skip the path of least resistance, everyone will reap the benefits.
Remember, the goal isn’t just to help students pass tests—it’s to help them develop language proficiency that lasts long after the final exam or your 14-week course. So the next time your students complain about yet another vocabulary quiz or grammar recall activity, remind them that you’re not testing them—you’re helping them learn more efficiently. Whether they thank you now or years later is another question.
As for the old EFL worksheets, if you peek into them, you won’t throw them away. They will forever stay in your memory shelves, waiting to be put to use, being part of your identity, your knowledge, and your intuitions. Every time you facilitate the retrieval practice in your students, they will remember your worksheets as well.
References
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Leah Goldberg is EPIC (English for Purposes of International Communication) course coordinator at The Open University of Israel. She holds an EDD in Educational Leadership and Design. Leah is dedicating her efforts to transferring knowledge about the brain to the EFL classrooms.