Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40878812›Full record

ArticleInternational endodontic journal2026

The "Testing Effect" in Undergraduate Endodontic Education: The Impact of Regular Low Stakes Testing on Learning Outcomes and Student Engagement.

M Kalyva, K Kavvadia, L Louca, I Televantou, M P Michaelides

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International endodontic journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

M KalyvaDepartment of Dentistry, European University, Nicosia, Cyprus.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3185-3594
K KavvadiaDepartment of Dentistry, European University, Nicosia, Cyprus.
L LoucaDepartment of Educational Sciences, European University, Nicosia, Cyprus.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2551-7829
I TelevantouDepartment of Educational Sciences, European University, Nicosia, Cyprus.
M P MichaelidesDepartment of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimThis study investigates the impact of regular testing on learning outcomes in undergraduate endodontic education. Specifically, it examines whether students perform better at the end of the course on previously tested material compared to non-tested material and explores the role of students' engagement and perceptions of testing in this effect. METHODOLOGY: A within-participants experimental design was employed with 81 third-year dental students enrolled in a preclinical endodontics course. Students were tested on half of the course lectures (tested material) immediately after each lecture, while the remaining lectures served as a control (non-tested material). Testing was conducted using multiple-choice questions on the Blackboard Learn platform with immediate automated feedback. Final exam scores for tested and non-tested material were compared, and a subset of students (n = 44) completed a questionnaire assessing cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, and perceptions of testing.

resultsStudents scored significantly higher on tested material (Mean = 25.284, SD = 4.202) compared to non-tested material (Mean = 21.111, SD = 3.847). The mean difference between the two scores was statistically significant with a very large effect size (F

conclusionsThe findings demonstrate a robust testing effect in undergraduate endodontic education, supporting the hypothesis that retrieval practice enhances learning outcomes. These results suggest that integrating regular, low-stakes testing into dental curricula can enhance dental students' learning outcomes at the end of the course.

Indexed as

Educational MeasurementEducation, DentalEndodonticsLearningStudents, DentalFemaleHumansMaleSurveys and Questionnairescognitive engagementemotional engagementendodontic educationretrieval practicetesting effectundergraduate dental education

Identifiers

PMID40878812
PMCPMC13158533

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.