NARRATIVE WRITING & RETRIEVAL PRACTICE
TO REDUCE ANXIETY & IMPROVE PERFORMANCE
Conclusion:
-Most students performed better on questions that were covered by retrieval
practice than those that were not.
-The effect of the treatment seemed larger for African American and Latino students
-Students did not rate retrieval practice/daily quiz as valuable form of review
-Attempt to measure the overall anxiety and effect of narrative writing was not
successful
Background: Berkeley High is a diverse public school in downtown Berkeley, California. Like many other
schools in the country, Berkeley High suffers from a persistent achievement gap between students of color
and their European American and Asian American counterparts. This research attempts to narrow this gap in
two ways. First, by reducing the anxiety around test taking and second by utilizing retrieval practice to
improve test performance. Research was conducted in researcher’s 11th /12th grade anatomy physiology
course.
Methodology:
Anxiety Reduction &
Student Performance
Narrative writing
Before/after self assessment
of preparedness
Retrieval Practice & Student
Preference
In-class retrieval practice of
content using Plickers™ online
assessment tool.
Student preference for test
preparation survey
0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
6%
19%
32%
43%
0%
2% 2%
4%
9% 9%
19%
15%
11%
30%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
0-10% 21-30% 41-50% 61-70% 81-90%
Percent of Students
Percent Correct
Target Non-Target
0% 0%
3% 3%
0% 0%
17%
13%
17%
47%
0% 0%
7%
3%
17%
3%
13%
17%
20% 20%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71-80% 81-90% 91-100%
Percent Students
Percent Correct
Target Non-Target
Research Question: Will reducing testing
anxiety through narrative writing and
providing students with retrieval practice
through regular formative assessment
improve test scores in my honors anatomy
and physiology course?
European American and Asian American student performance on
Target vs. Non-Target questions (N=47)
African American and Latino student performance on Target vs. Non-
Target questions (N=30)
Special thanks to
Berkeley High School
class of 2019 for being
incredibly patient and
helpful!
Plickers™
Student Preference for Test Preparation (N=75)
Johannah Bearg - Berkeley High School - Berkeley, CA
