Do frequent low-stakes quizzes raise course grades, or only the marks on the quizzes themselves? Real classes have been tested for decades, on their own syllabus and exams, and there are now enough studies to say how large the gain is, who gets it and where it fails to appear.
EdProcto, which publishes this guide, is a quiz maker for teachers and lecturers. The best-known experiments, and the meta-analysis of quizzes in real classes, are in our guides to retrieval practice in school and weekly quizzes in a lecture course. This one uses other studies to ask how big, for whom, at what cost and how often.
Each study was read on 10 October 2026: in full where it is open to all, and otherwise as marked ("abstract read").
Do frequent low-stakes quizzes raise course grades?
Yes, on average and by a moderate margin, though most of the evidence compares one class with another.
The widest synthesis is Yang et al. (2021; abstract read), who pooled 222 studies run in classrooms, with 48,478 students. Quizzed students ended about half a standard deviation ahead (g = 0.499). On a bell-shaped spread of marks that lifts a middle student to about the 69th percentile, by our arithmetic.
On quiz frequency itself the classic is Bangert-Drowns et al. (1991; abstract read), a meta-analysis of how often classes were tested. A class given at least one test in a 15-week term finished about half a standard deviation above a class given none on the outcome exams. More tests went with better results, but each added test bought less. The large step is from nothing to something.
Single courses show the range.
| Study | Class | What changed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leeming (2002; abstract read) | Four psychology classes | A short exam opening every class, where earlier classes sat four exams | Better grades, fewer withdrawals, more remembered on a later test |
| Kika et al. (1992; abstract read) | Two Grade 11 algebra classes | Tests weekly or fortnightly, swapped every two months | Better in every weekly spell |
| Freeman et al. (2011) | University biology, six quarters, one instructor | A reading quiz before every class, questions in class and weekly practice exams, added in stages | Failing grades fell from 18.2% to 6.3% |
| Eddy and Hogan (2014) | University biology, six terms, one instructor | Weekly graded questions on the reading, with more activity in class | Exam marks up 3.2 percentage points |
| De Paola and Scoppa (2011; abstract read) | Two economics classes, students assigned at random | One mid-course exam with its results, against the final alone | More passes, higher grades |
| Haberyan (2003; ERIC's summary read) | General biology for non-majors | A weekly quiz, against none | No significant gain in exam scores |
How far can these studies be trusted?
For direction more than for size. Greving and Richter (2018) list what weakens earlier field studies of the classroom testing effect: classes compared across sections or years with no random assignment, and quizzes that brought feedback or counted for the grade, so that recall cannot be told apart from extra exposure and extra study. The four experiments in this guide that controlled who was quizzed on what each still found a gain of some kind.
Do weaker students gain more from frequent quizzes?
Often, and in most studies at least as much as stronger students, but one randomised experiment found the reverse.
- Lower achievers. In the algebra classes of Kika et al. (1992), low- and middle-achieving students made the larger gains under weekly testing.
- Black and first-generation students. In Eddy and Hogan (2014) one analysis put the gain at 3.2 percentage points for students in general and 6.3 for Black students, halving their gap with white students. Another put it at 6.1 for first-generation students against 3.7 for the rest, closing that gap.
- Every band. Orr and Foster (2013) set ten online quizzes a semester, worth 10% of the grade, for 362 community college biology students. Those who took every quiz outscored those who took none in each band of earlier exam marks, though not significantly in the weakest, where numbers were small. Students chose whether to comply, so diligence explains part of it.
- No dependence. Glaser and Richter (2023; abstract read) alternated a short-answer quiz with feedback and rereading for each of 208 student teachers. Quizzed content was remembered better a week later, whatever the student's prior knowledge, motivation or test anxiety.
- The exception. In De Paola and Scoppa (2011) the mid-course exam helped high-ability students more.
No study here shows a group that loses. Our reading: a quiz helps a weaker student when it makes them study between exams. In Eddy and Hogan's survey the median student reported four to seven hours of study a week, up from one to three.
What happens to failure rates?
They fell in each course that reported them, and each course had changed more than its quizzes.
In Freeman et al. (2011) failure meant a grade too low to take the next course. It stood at 18.2% and 15.8% in two quarters of lectures and exams alone, 10.9% and 11.7% once questions in class and weekly practice exams were added, and 7.4% and 6.3% with a reading quiz before every class and group work as well. The exams grew harder over those years, by two separate ratings, and the fall under the full design stayed significant after allowing for the students' earlier grades and test scores.
In Eddy and Hogan (2014) the share with a C− or lower went from 26.6% to 15.6%. Braun and Sellers (2012; abstract read) report lower failure rates in the semesters when an accounting class opened with three questions on the reading; their abstract gives no figures.
Each is one course compared across years. They show that a course built on frequent graded practice fails fewer students, not that the quiz alone did it.
Do quizzes change attendance?
They fill the room on quiz days and can thin it on the others. Hovell et al. (1979; abstract read) followed three undergraduate classes: about 90% attended meetings with a quiz or an exam, and under 55% attended the rest. Frequent quizzing went with lower attendance at quiz-free meetings than infrequent quizzing. Braun and Sellers (2012) saw more punctual attendance with a quiz opening every class. A quiz in some sessions marks the others as optional.
What do the studies that found a gain have in common?
Four conditions recur: the quiz counts a little, the answers come back, the exam asks what the quizzes asked, and the quiz is regular.
| Condition | Evidence | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| It counts a little | Day et al. (2018; abstract read) reviewed 88 articles on in-course assessment in higher education: course credit improved grades more than other rewards | A small weight: 5 to 10% of the course is our judgement, not a finding |
| The answers come back | The same review: corrective feedback gave the most positive results | Show the right answer the same day. In the EdProcto builder the kind "Study quiz" does it: "each answer shown at once, misses retried" |
| The exam asks what was quizzed | Glaser and Richter (2025; abstract read): a gain on quizzed content, none on the rest of the same lectures | Quiz everything that matters, and bring old questions back |
| It is regular | De Paola and Scoppa (2011): the gain came from dividing the workload, not from the results | A fixed day, every week |
Where the conditions are disputed
- Credit. In Khanna (2015; abstract read), introductory psychology students given ungraded pop quizzes beat both those given graded pop quizzes and those given none on the cumulative final. Surprise and a grade together are the mix to avoid.
- Feedback. De Paola and Scoppa found no benefit from telling students their results. Theirs was one exam, not a weekly quiz.
- Format. Greving and Richter (2018) gave students one review in the last ten minutes of each lecture, with no answers and no grade. Short-answer questions beat rereading up to 23 weeks later, but only on questions that 46% to 81% of students had answered correctly. Multiple-choice questions did not, though the authors call it premature to rule them out. When to show the answer covers the feedback their design left out.
Where did studies find nothing, or a cost?
Some studies found no gain, and three costs are on record: stress for a minority, time, and quiz fatigue.
Nothing. Haberyan's (2003) weekly quizzes brought no significant gain in exam scores. In Glaser and Richter (2025), 67 students gained on what the quizzes covered and on nothing else from the same lectures.
Anxiety. Agarwal et al. (2014; abstract read) surveyed 1,408 middle and high school students. In the quizzed classes 72% said quizzing made them less nervous for unit tests and exams, which leaves more than a quarter who did not. Vaessen et al. (2017; abstract read) asked university students about graded frequent assessments in a compulsory statistics course. Most valued them as a spur to study. A modest number felt effects either way, the negative ones being more stress and lower self-confidence, and fewer than half used the results in their learning. Our guide to test anxiety has the pooled evidence.
Time. Greving and Richter took ten minutes of a 90-minute lecture, and the extra hours Eddy and Hogan's students reported are how the quiz works as well as what it costs. Say so in week one.
Quiz fatigue. In Orr and Foster (2013) the share taking every quiz fell from 78.5% before the first exam to 59.3% before the fourth, and the share taking none rose from 2.2% to 14.8%, though the quizzes were required.
How often is enough?
Weekly has the most direct support, and each quiz beyond it adds less.
- Bangert-Drowns et al. (1991) found returns that shrink as tests are added.
- Kika et al. (1992) found weekly tests better than fortnightly ones every time the schedule was swapped.
- A test in every class went with better grades in Leeming (2002) and fewer failures in Braun and Sellers (2012). Neither set it against a weekly quiz.
A plan for one term:
- Fix one quiz a week, same day, five to eight questions. Quiz every lesson only if it stays under five minutes.
- Weight it lightly, and count each student's best scores.
- Show the answers the same day. In EdProcto, set the kind of quiz to "Study quiz" for practice, or to "Exam" when it counts.
- Keep a few questions for earlier weeks, so that what the exam will ask has been asked.
- Say what it is for, and what it costs in time.
- Watch completion. If it slides as in Orr and Foster (2013), shorten the quiz before adding weight.
Steps 1, 2 and 6 are our judgement. How many questions a quiz needs covers length.
How does EdProcto fit a frequent low-stakes quiz?
EdProcto is the best tool for a quiz that must be made again every week, because its plans take away the two jobs that end most quiz routines: writing the questions and marking them. The large step in the evidence is from no quizzes to some, so what matters most is that the quiz happens.
- The kind of quiz. The hover text on the builder's selector reads: "Exam: handed in once, marked at the end. Study quiz: each answer shown at once, misses retried. Quiz night: played live, with a scoreboard."
- Free. Ten quizzes a month, thirty students a quiz, with marking by rule and the results question by question. Procto AI writes 20 questions a month. A weekly quiz for one class fits.
- Tutor. No limit on quizzes, 100 students a quiz, and Procto AI writes 50 questions a month from a PDF, a Word file or your notes. A quiz every lesson needs this plan.
- Educator. 500 students a quiz, Procto AI with no monthly cap inside a daily ceiling, and the full analysis.
Pricing has each plan.
Quick questions
Do frequent low-stakes quizzes improve final exam scores?
In most studies, yes. Classes tested at least once a term finished about half a standard deviation ahead in Bangert-Drowns et al. (1991). Haberyan (2003) found no gain from a weekly quiz.
Should low-stakes quizzes count towards the grade?
A little. Course credit improved grades more than other rewards in the review by Day et al. (2018), but graded surprise quizzes did worse than ungraded ones in Khanna (2015).
Do frequent quizzes make students more anxious?
Most students say the opposite: 72% of the school students surveyed by Agarwal et al. (2014) felt less nervous for exams. A minority report more stress.
Is a daily quiz better than a weekly quiz?
That is not shown. Weekly beat fortnightly in Kika et al. (1992), and Bangert-Drowns et al. (1991) found each added test buying less.
Can I run a weekly quiz on EdProcto's Free plan?
Yes, for one class of up to thirty. Free covers ten quizzes a month with marking by rule, and pricing sets out the plans above it.
References
- Agarwal, P. K., D'Antonio, L., Roediger, H. L., McDermott, K. B., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Classroom-based programs of retrieval practice reduce middle school and high school students' test anxiety. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 3(3), 131–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2014.07.002
- Bangert-Drowns, R. L., Kulik, J. A., & Kulik, C.-L. C. (1991). Effects of frequent classroom testing. The Journal of Educational Research, 85(2), 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1991.10702818
- Braun, K. W., & Sellers, R. D. (2012). Using a "daily motivational quiz" to increase student preparation, attendance, and participation. Issues in Accounting Education, 27(1), 267–279. https://doi.org/10.2308/iace-10219
- Day, I. N. Z., van Blankenstein, F. M., Westenberg, P. M., & Admiraal, W. (2018). A review of the characteristics of intermediate assessment and their relationship with student grades. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(6), 908–929. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1417974
- De Paola, M., & Scoppa, V. (2011). Frequency of examinations and student achievement in a randomized experiment. Economics of Education Review, 30(6), 1416–1429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.07.009
- Eddy, S. L., & Hogan, K. A. (2014). Getting under the hood: How and for whom does increasing course structure work? CBE Life Sciences Education, 13(3), 453–468. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.14-03-0050
- Freeman, S., Haak, D., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2011). Increased course structure improves performance in introductory biology. CBE Life Sciences Education, 10(2), 175–186. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.10-08-0105
- Glaser, J., & Richter, T. (2023). The testing effect in the lecture hall: Does it depend on learner prerequisites? Psychology Learning & Teaching, 22(2), 159–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/14757257221136660
- Glaser, J., & Richter, T. (2025). The testing effect in the lecture hall: Does it transfer to content studied but not practiced? Teaching of Psychology, 52(1), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283231218943
- Greving, S., & Richter, T. (2018). Examining the testing effect in university teaching: Retrievability and question format matter. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 2412. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02412
- Haberyan, K. A. (2003). Do weekly quizzes improve student performance on general biology exams? The American Biology Teacher, 65(2), 110–114. https://doi.org/10.2307/4451449
- Hovell, M. F., Williams, R. L., & Semb, G. (1979). Analysis of undergraduates' attendance at class meetings with and without grade-related contingencies: A contrast effect. The Journal of Educational Research, 73(1), 50–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1979.10885204
- Khanna, M. M. (2015). Ungraded pop quizzes: Test-enhanced learning without all the anxiety. Teaching of Psychology, 42(2), 174–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628315573144
- Kika, F. M., McLaughlin, T. F., & Dixon, J. (1992). Effects of frequent testing of secondary algebra students. The Journal of Educational Research, 85(3), 159–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1992.9944432
- Leeming, F. C. (2002). The exam-a-day procedure improves performance in psychology classes. Teaching of Psychology, 29(3), 210–212. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328023TOP2903_06
- Orr, R., & Foster, S. (2013). Increasing student success using online quizzing in introductory (majors) biology. CBE Life Sciences Education, 12(3), 509–514. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.12-10-0183
- Vaessen, B. E., van den Beemt, A., van de Watering, G., van Meeuwen, L. W., Lemmens, L., & den Brok, P. (2017). Students' perception of frequent assessments and its relation to motivation and grades in a statistics course: A pilot study. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(6), 872–886. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2016.1204532
- Yang, C., Luo, L., Vadillo, M. A., Yu, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2021). Testing (quizzing) boosts classroom learning: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(4), 399–435. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000309