The “testing effect,” a term championed by researchers like Roediger and Karpicke, demonstrates that every time a student actively recalls information, they strengthen the neural pathways associated with it. This effortful retrieval tells the brain that the information is important and makes it easier to access in the future. Ultimately, over time, if students are able to actively recall correctly, this means they likelihood of them learning the content, is much higher. Although the challenge for teachers has always been the time it takes to create a rich variety of material, such as flashcards, practice tests, and quizzes, that facilitate this process.
With powerful AI tools, we can now create engaging, interactive retrieval practice activities in minutes. Tools like Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT have built-in “Canvas” features that can generate the code for these resources, and you don’t need to be a coding expert to use them.
