# What is assessment-based learning? LLM Brief Human page: https://drillster.com/en/blog/what-is-assessment-based-learning ## Description Assessment-based learning uses questions, dilemmas, and retrieval practice to build lasting knowledge. Here is what it is, why it works, and how Drillster applies it. ## Content # What is assessment-based learning? Most corporate training programmes are built around a simple idea: give people information, then test whether they received it. The training is a delivery event. The exam is a confirmation of attendance. The problem is that this model does not reflect how memory works. Research on the [Ebbinghaus forgetting curve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting_curve) shows that without active reinforcement, people forget roughly **50% of new information within an hour, 70% within a day, and up to 90% within a week**. A training course, however well designed, cannot prevent this on its own. Assessment-based learning offers a fundamentally different approach. Rather than treating questions as a measurement tool applied after learning has finished, it uses them as the primary mechanism through which learning happens. ## What assessment-based learning actually is The name is straightforward: learning by answering questions, working through dilemmas, solving problems, and analysing cases. The learning process happens _during_ the act of answering, not before it. When an employee reads a question and has to retrieve the correct answer from memory, the brain does work that passive reading does not require. Even an incorrect answer followed by immediate feedback produces a stronger memory trace than simply re-reading the same information. This is because the brain, having made an effortful attempt, is primed to encode the correction. **Assessment-based learning works for both new and familiar content.** When the material is new, questions force active engagement with it. When the material was covered in earlier training, questions surface exactly what has been retained and what has faded, so reinforcement time goes where it is actually needed. ## The science behind it: the testing effect The effectiveness of assessment-based learning has a well-established research foundation called the _testing effect_. In a landmark [2006 study by Roediger and Karpicke](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16507066/), participants who used retrieval practice to study outperformed those who used repeated passive study by a significant margin on delayed retention tests. The more effortful the retrieval, the stronger the long-term retention gain. Their research showed that retrieval practice can improve long-term retention by **50 to 80% compared to re-reading**. Importantly, this advantage grows over time. In the short term, passive study can feel more effective because it is easier and produces a sense of fluency. But on tests taken days or weeks later, the retrieval practice group pulls ahead decisively. This is the crucial gap between feeling like you know something and actually being able to apply it when it matters. ### Why effort is the point The discomfort of not knowing the answer and having to search for it is not a failure of the learning experience. It is the mechanism. This is sometimes called _desirable difficulty_: the effortful retrieval process is precisely what creates the durable memory trace. This is also why feedback matters so much. When someone answers incorrectly, the brain is momentarily in a state of heightened receptivity: it has just discovered a gap between its model of the world and reality. Immediate, clear feedback at that exact moment lands more effectively than the same information delivered at any other time. ## Immediate feedback as a learning multiplier Assessment-based learning without feedback is a missed opportunity. With feedback, each answered question becomes a complete learning cycle: attempt, outcome, correction, encoding. **The feedback needs to do more than confirm right or wrong.** It should explain why a particular answer is correct, what principle underlies it, and, in cases where multiple answers could seem defensible, why one is preferred. This matters particularly for compliance and safety training, where the reasoning behind a rule is often as important as the rule itself. The [positive effects of well-designed feedback](/en/blog/the-desire-path-how-learning-really-works) extend beyond the immediate correction. Employees who understand the reasoning behind rules are better equipped to handle novel situations where the rules do not map cleanly onto what is in front of them. ## How Drillster applies assessment-based learning Assessment-based learning, as described in research, is usually treated as a supplement: a set of practice questions added before or after classroom instruction. Drillster uses it as a _primary_ learning mechanism. Employees learn by answering questions. After each response, whether correct or incorrect, they receive immediate positive feedback that reinforces the correct knowledge. The learning happens in the question itself and in the response to it, not in a separate reading phase. ### The adaptive layer: working smarter, not harder What makes Drillster's approach more effective than a static question bank is the adaptive algorithm beneath it. Rather than presenting every employee with the same sequence of questions, the algorithm tracks what each individual has mastered and what they are still uncertain about. Topics where someone consistently answers correctly appear less frequently. Topics that generate hesitation or incorrect answers return more often, in varied form, until reliable competence is established. This means no time is wasted repeating content already mastered, and no gaps are left unaddressed because the course ended before they were exposed. ### Spaced repetition: fighting the forgetting curve Even well-learned knowledge fades over time. Drillster applies _spaced repetition_, surfacing each knowledge element again at the point where recall starts to slip. Rather than a one-time training event followed by years of assumed competence, employees receive timely reminders that keep critical knowledge reliable. This combination of assessment-based learning and spaced repetition is how Drillster supports [continuous competence](/en/blog/goodbye-false-pass-marks-how-to-keep-your-workforce-continuously-competent) rather than point-in-time certification. ### Stories alongside drills Drillster is not 100% question-based. The platform also supports _stories_: contextual content blocks that can open a learning journey, provide background on a topic, or offer guidance before a challenging set of questions. This makes it possible to build a full blended experience without sacrificing the active learning core. ## When to use assessment-based learning Assessment-based learning fits several positions in a learning programme: - **Before a training event**: to establish a baseline and surface what employees already know, so live training time is spent on genuine gaps rather than familiar ground. - **After a training event**: to reinforce content and prevent the forgetting curve from erasing what was just taught. - **As a standalone continuous learning solution**: for ongoing knowledge and competence maintenance, particularly in regulated industries where a one-time pass mark is not sufficient proof of readiness. It works particularly well alongside other methods. If you are already using classroom training, e-learning, or on-the-job practice, adding assessment-based learning as a reinforcement layer is [one of the most efficient ways to increase retention](/en/blog/blended-learning-and-how-you-too-can-apply-it) without adding significant time to your employees' learning schedule. ## From information to reliable competence The distinction that matters for L&D professionals is not whether employees have been exposed to the right content. It is whether they can reliably apply it when a real situation calls for it. Assessment-based learning bridges that gap because it trains the same mental process that real performance requires: recognising a situation, retrieving the relevant knowledge, and making a sound decision. Passive learning trains none of these things directly. If you want to see how Drillster's approach works in practice, with results from organisations in financial services, healthcare, aviation, and more, [book a demo with our team](/en/contact). We can walk you through how assessment-based learning would fit your specific programmes and how to measure the difference it makes. ## References - Roediger, H. L. & Karpicke, J. D. (2006) - Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention, _Psychological Science_ [View study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16507066/) - Ebbinghaus, H. (1885) - Forgetting curve, _Wikipedia summary_ [View article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting_curve) - Whatfix (2024) - Ebbinghaus forgetting curve: how to overcome it [Read article](https://whatfix.com/blog/ebbinghaus-forgetting-curve/)