Quizzes when you want them, not when we decide

TL;DR:

• Practice and quizzes in DuckyHelper are quick checks you ask for.

• Retrieval practice means pulling an answer from memory instead of rereading it.

• A full quiz is something you start. Say "quiz me" when you want one.

Quizzes are one of the most useful things a learning tool can offer, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Used well, they show you what you do not know yet. Used badly, they interrupt you every few minutes with a question you never asked for. We built DuckyHelper's practice to be the first kind.

Retrieval practice in one minute

Say you are learning the causes of a historical event. You can reread your notes, or you can close them and try to write down the causes from memory. The second way is called retrieval practice. Pulling information out of your head, instead of looking it over again, is widely recognized as a good way to make it stick.

It works partly because it is honest. Rereading gives a comfortable sense of knowing, because the page looks familiar. Trying to recall exposes what you can really produce. Finding a gap while it is cheap, in practice, is much better than finding it in the exam.

We are not promising particular results from using DuckyHelper this way. What we can say is that the method is a sensible one, and a quick quiz is an easy way to use it.

Asking for a quiz

In DuckyHelper, practice is something you start. Say "quiz me on this" while you are studying, or ask for a few questions on what you just covered, and it will set a quick check. If you ask for a quiz, you get a quiz. The rule we want it to follow is that a plain question does not get turned into a test.

That last point matters to us. An assistant that decides on its own that you should be tested is overriding what you said you wanted. We think the right default is to do what you asked.

What a quick check looks like

A good check is small. It asks a handful of questions about the thing you were just working on, lets you answer in your own words or by choosing an option, and then tells you which ones you got right and why. It should take a few minutes, not an evening.

• The questions come from what you were just studying.

• You answer first, and then see how you did.

• If you miss one, you get a hint and another try, so you reach the answer yourself.

Why a quiz waits for you

A quiz you did not ask for tends to arrive at the wrong moment, and prompts that interrupt are easy to start ignoring. So a quiz in DuckyHelper waits for you to ask. That is different from the small questions inside an explanation: while it teaches, DuckyHelper may ask you back or let you try the next step, because working a step out yourself is part of learning it. Your flashcards and your streak are kept for when you want them.

This is the same thinking as the rest of DuckyHelper. It listens when you press the key, and it quizzes when you ask. We covered the first in what we mean by only when you ask.

A small example

Say you have just worked through how a plant makes food from light. You tell DuckyHelper, "quiz me on that." It asks what goes in and what comes out, and you say your answer out loud or type it. If you leave out something that matters, it tells you what is missing and why.

Compare that with rereading the page. The quiz tells you in two minutes which part you can really produce. Then you know where to spend the next ten minutes, and that is worth more than another pass over the parts you already know.

Quizzes are one tool among several

Practice sits next to everything else DuckyHelper does. You might ask a question, have it worked out on the blackboard, and then ask for a check. Or you might skip practice entirely and just want an explanation. Both are fine. We built the quiz to be there when you reach for it, not to decide your study plan for you.

What this means for you

Use quizzes as often or as rarely as you like. A good rhythm for many people is to learn something, close the book, and ask for a few questions on it. If you are working with the blackboard, ask for a check after a worked example and see whether you can do the next one yourself. For a deeper look at the method, read our short entry on retrieval practice.