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One-minute papers allow students to process what they learned during class and improve student performance. However, this activity can become monotonous and takes significantly longer than the name implies. The research described here tests the effectiveness of a briefer, more flexible version of this technique to increase the perceived relevance of the material and, in turn, performance. Students were randomly assigned to either self-generate a reflective response or answer a content-specific question generated by the instructor at the end of class. Students positively evaluated the brief reflective response activity. Moreover, answering the self-generated reflective responses was associated with greater perceived relevancy of course material to students' daily lives compared to answering the content-specific questions. Perceived relevancy, in turn, was associated with higher examination grades. Thus, brief reflective responses are a useful tool to increase meaningful connections to course material which enhances examination performance.

Two-phase testing assesses individual performance (phase 1) and then allows collaborative learning within small groups (phase 2). While groups typically outperform individuals, less is known about the social decision schemes that influence member collaboration. In a classroom setting, we compared individual and group performance on a standard test versus a two-phase test (Study 1 n = 180, Study 2 n = 60) to determine the impact of collaborative testing on recalling factual and application based test items. We also assessed various aspects of group dynamics (e.g. liking). Both studies showed several benefits to collaborative testing with few costs: students enjoyed collaborative testing and the performance benefits were stronger for lower scoring students and integrative versus factual test items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]