Kerdijk, W., Cohen-Schotanus, J., Mulder, B. F., Muntinghe, F. H., & Tio, R. A. (2015). Cumulative versus end-of-course assessment: effects on self-study time and test performance. Medical Education, 49(7), 709-716.
In the article, researchers conducted an experiment to see if there was a difference between self-study habits when taking cumulative and end-of-course exams. To do this, they randomly assigned 78 students to one of the two testing conditions and each week every participant had to fill out a survey to document how many hours they studied on their own. The participants in the cumulative testing group had to take three tests throughout the semester whereas the participants in the end-of-course group only had to take one test during the final week. Both groups were given the same set of questions in the final exam, and the results were then compared. In addition to comparing the final test scores, the researchers calculated the GPA of each student in prior courses to assure that there was no significant difference in academic performance between the groups to make sure the results were not biased.
They found that there was no significant difference in performance in the course, however, students in the cumulative testing group studied more and did better on questions regarding material covered during the last two weeks of class.
