Frame: the problem and its names

This file states the problem of questions written into study material, in one sentence. It then defines the terms every file of this folder uses, gives the names that research and practice use, and lists the sub-questions.

The problem in one sentence

Decide how the questions inside a study text are written, placed and answered, so that answering them makes a learner who studies alone learn more than reading the same text.

Terms used in every file of this folder

Term	Definition
practice question	a question written into study material for the learner to answer, not to grade them
item	one question with its expected answer; the word of the testing literature
stem, options, key, distractor	the question part of a multiple-choice item, its answer choices, the correct choice, and a wrong choice
lure	a distractor seen as a source of false learning, in the memory literature
item-writing flaw	a breach of an item-writing guideline, such as "all of the above" or a clue to the key
free recall, cued recall, short answer	write all one remembers; produce one answer to a cue; produce a short constructed answer
recognition	choose the answer among given ones; multiple choice is the common case
covert and overt retrieval	answering in one's head; answering by writing, typing or speaking
question level	the kind of thinking a question asks, usually named by Bloom's taxonomy: remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, create
transfer	answering a new question that the practice question did not ask (core frame)
KR, KCR, EF	feedback types: knowledge of result (right or wrong), knowledge of correct response (the answer), elaborated feedback (an explanation)
AUC	answer-until-correct: the learner keeps choosing until the key is found
immediate and delayed feedback	feedback right after each answer; feedback after a set of answers or a time gap
presearch availability	the answer is visible, or reachable, before the learner has answered (Kulhavy 1977): peeking
AQG	automatic question generation; AIG, automatic item generation, its testing-industry form

What the field calls it

Our words	The field's names	Entry point
questions in a study text	adjunct questions, inserted questions, post-questions	Hamaker 1986 (core); Andre 1979
answering them to learn	test-enhanced learning, testing effect, retrieval practice, practice testing, quizzing	Yang 2021 (core); Pan 2018
the kind of question	question level, higher-order questions, Bloom's taxonomy, transfer-appropriate processing	Agarwal 2019; Jensen 2014
the format	test format, recall against recognition, constructed against selected response	Rowland 2014 (core); Smith 2013c
writing a good item	item writing, item-writing guidelines and rules, item-writing flaws	Haladyna 2002; Downing 2005
the wrong answers	distractors, lures, functional distractors, misconception-based distractors	Gierl 2017; Sadler 1998
the answer shown after	feedback, formative feedback, corrective feedback, elaborated feedback	Hattie 2007; Shute 2008
when it is shown	feedback timing, delay-retention effect	Kulik 1988; Kandemir 2026
where the answer sits	presearch availability, peeking, answer availability	Kulhavy 1977; Anderson 1971
questions written by a program	AQG, AIG, distractor generation, LLM question generation	Kurdi 2020; Alhazmi 2024

What practitioners call it

Practitioners say	The field says
review questions, end-of-chapter questions, check your understanding, self-test	adjunct post-questions
quiz, low-stakes quiz, formative quiz, knowledge check	practice testing in a class
challenge (with a folded solution)	adjunct question with presearch availability controlled by a fold (Carpentries 2026p)
MCQ, single best answer, test bank	multiple-choice items
"plausible wrong answers"	functional distractors
answer key, answers to odd-numbered exercises, solutions manual	feedback placed away from the question
deferred feedback, immediate feedback, interactive with multiple tries	delayed feedback, immediate feedback, AUC (Moodle 2025)
AI-generated quiz	AQG with a large language model

Sub-questions

Id	Question
Q1	Which kinds of question (factual recall, application, transfer, self-explanation, error-finding) give more learning, and does a higher-order question help lower-order learning or the reverse?
Q2	Which format teaches more (short answer, multiple choice, free recall), and under which conditions?
Q3	How is an item written: guidelines, number of options, flawed items, distractors built from misconceptions?
Q4	Feedback: what it says (correct answer, explanation) and when it comes
Q5	Where answers sit (folded, at the end, a key) and what peeking costs
Q6	Practice: textbooks' review questions, OER and Carpentries exercises, quiz tools, with adoption
Q7	Generated questions measured against written ones

Search terms tried, three ways

Academic: test-enhanced learning, testing effect, retrieval practice, adjunct questions, higher-order questions, item writing, item-writing flaws, distractors, elaborated feedback, delayed feedback, answer-until-correct, covert retrieval, automatic question generation, automatic item generation.
Acronym: MCQ, KR, KCR, EF, AUC, AQG, AIG, IWF, LLM.
Author: Roediger, Karpicke, McDaniel, Butler, Agarwal, Little, Bjork, Haladyna, Downing, Rodriguez, Gierl, Kulhavy, Kulik, Hattie, Shute, Kurdi.
Zero results (F16, F18, F20 in ERIC) were rephrased, and the rephrased strings returned records (protocol.md).

Not reviewed here, linked instead

Whether testing works at all, and how much: learning-science (Rowland 2014, Yang 2021, Adesope 2017); this review reads only their moderators of format and feedback.
Prequestions before a text (St. Hilaire 2023), self-explanation prompts (Bisra 2018), erroneous examples (Alemdag 2025): same core file.
Folded content and how often readers open it: progressive-disclosure.
Typed blocks such as a "trap" box: information-typing.
Models as writers in general: llm-readers; only generated questions are reviewed here.
Live questions in a lecture, clickers: presentations.
Spaced review of detached prompts: the flashcards review. Exercise sequences, answer keys of problem sets and solution manuals: the exercise-sets review. Objectives aligned with questions: the instructional-text review.