Let’s play a quick game.

Think back to your last study session. How much time did you spend:

Re-reading notes?
Highlighting text?
Watching lecture recordings at 2x speed?
Actually testing yourself?

If you’re like 90% of students, option D got maybe 5% of your study time—if that. And that’s a problem. Because science has known for over a century that quizzes are the single most effective learning tool we have. Yet they’re consistently overlooked, undervalued, and dismissed as “just for grades.”

It’s time to change that narrative. Here are 12 reasons why quizzes deserve a seat at the head of your study table.

1. The Testing Effect Is Real (And It’s Spectacular)

Scientists call it the “testing effect” or “retrieval practice,” but here’s what it means in plain English: Taking a test on material helps you remember it better than studying it again.

A landmark 2006 study by Roediger and Karpicke had students read a passage and then either:

Study it three more times, or
Take three tests on it

One week later, the test-takers remembered 50% more than the re-readers. Same material. Same time spent. Wildly different results.

Why? Because retrieval—the act of pulling information out of your brain—strengthens memory traces in ways that passive review simply can’t match.

2. Quizzes Expose What You Don’t Know

Here’s a dirty little secret about studying: You’re terrible at knowing what you know.

Psychologists call this “illusion of competence.” When you re-read your notes, everything looks familiar. You think, “Yeah, I know this.” But familiarity isn’t the same as knowledge. It’s a cognitive trap.

Quizzes force you to actually produce the answer—and that’s when you discover the gaps. That moment when you’re staring at a question thinking, “Wait, I totally knew this five minutes ago…” is uncomfortable. But it’s also invaluable. It tells you exactly where to focus your study time.

3. They Make Information “Stick” Longer

Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered the “forgetting curve” way back in 1885. His research showed that without intervention, we forget roughly 70% of new information within 24 hours.

Quizzes interrupt this curve. Each time you successfully retrieve information, you reset the decay process and strengthen the memory. It’s like hitting the refresh button on your brain.

Better yet, when you combine quizzes with spaced repetition (testing yourself at increasing intervals), you can make memories essentially permanent. We’re talking 90%+ retention months later.

4. Mistakes Are Actually Good

Nobody likes getting answers wrong. It’s embarrassing, frustrating, and hits the ego where it hurts. But here’s the counterintuitive truth: Errors made during quizzing are learning gold.

When you get a question wrong and then see the correct answer, your brain pays extra attention. The surprise and mild frustration create what psychologists call “desirable difficulties”—challenges that make learning harder in the moment but more durable in the long run.

Studies show that information learned through corrected errors is often remembered better than information that was correct from the start. So stop avoiding mistakes and start embracing them.

5. They Reduce Test Anxiety (Yes, Really)

It sounds backwards, but frequent low-stakes quizzing actually decreases anxiety about high-stakes exams. Here’s why:

You get comfortable with the testing format
You know what you know (and what you don’t)
You’ve practiced retrieval so many times it becomes automatic
There are no surprises—you’ve seen similar questions before

Think of quizzes as exposure therapy for exam stress. The more you do it, the less scary it becomes. Students who quiz themselves regularly report feeling significantly more confident walking into final exams.

6. Immediate Feedback = Faster Learning

One of the biggest advantages of self-quizzing is instant feedback. You answer a question, and immediately you know if you were right or wrong.

This rapid feedback loop is crucial for learning. When there’s a delay between making an error and being corrected, the wrong information has time to solidify in your memory. But immediate correction prevents this and accelerates the learning process.

It’s like having a tutor who’s always available, never gets tired, and tells you exactly what you need to work on—every single time.

7. Quizzes Help Transfer Knowledge

Ever nailed a practice problem only to face a slightly different version on the exam and completely blank? That’s a transfer problem—you learned the specific example but couldn’t apply it to new situations.

Quizzes help with this. When you’re tested on material in various formats and contexts, you develop more flexible, adaptable knowledge. You’re not just memorizing—you’re building understanding that can travel.

Research shows that students who use varied quiz formats perform better on transfer tests than those who study with identical examples.

8. They’re Incredibly Time-Efficient

Let’s talk ROI. If you have one hour to study, here’s what the research says about your options:

Re-reading: Low retention, feels productive (it’s not)
Highlighting: Almost useless—you’re just making your book colorful
Summarizing: Moderate benefit, high time investment
Quizzing yourself: High retention, relatively quick

A meta-analysis of 118 studies found that practice testing had one of the highest utility ratings for learning efficiency. You get more learning bang for your time buck.

For busy students (which is all of you), this matters. A lot.

9. They Organize Knowledge Better

When you quiz yourself, you’re not just retrieving isolated facts—you’re practicing how to organize and access information in your brain.

Think of your memory like a filing system. Passive studying is like throwing papers into a pile. Quizzing is like actively organizing them into labeled folders. The retrieval practice forces you to build mental pathways and connections that make future retrieval easier.

Over time, this creates a well-organized knowledge structure that’s much more useful than a jumbled collection of facts.

10. They Work for Every Subject

Some students think quizzes are only good for memorization-heavy subjects like biology or history. Not true. The testing effect has been demonstrated across:

Foreign language vocabulary
Mathematical problem-solving
Medical diagnosis
Legal concepts
Scientific reasoning
Programming concepts
Even motor skills and procedures

If you can turn it into a question, you can quiz yourself on it. And you should.

11. The “Generation Effect” Multiplies Benefits

When you generate your own quizzes—creating questions from your notes—you get a double benefit:

Deep processing during creation: Turning information into questions requires you to think about what’s important and how concepts relate.
Retrieval practice when answering: You get all the benefits of quizzing on top of the generation effect.

This is why apps that turn your notes into quizzes are so powerful—they automate the creation process while still giving you the generation benefit of selecting what to include.

12. Quizzes Are More Fun Than You Think

Okay, maybe “fun” is a stretch. But here’s the thing: quizzes are engaging in a way that re-reading simply isn’t.

There’s a reason game shows have been popular for decades. Testing yourself creates a mini-challenge, a moment of tension and release. You’re actively involved rather than passively absorbing.

Many students report that self-quizzing feels more satisfying than traditional studying. You get immediate feedback, you can track progress, and there’s a sense of accomplishment when you nail a tough question.

Compare that to the mind-numbing slog of reading the same chapter for the fourth time.

How to Start Quiz-Based Learning Today

Convinced? Great. Here’s how to make quizzes a central part of your study routine:

Start small: Quiz yourself for just 5-10 minutes after each study session
Use the right tools: Flashcard apps, practice tests, or AI quiz generators (like turning your notes into quizzes automatically)
Embrace the struggle: If it feels too easy, you’re not learning much—make the questions harder
Space it out: Quiz yourself today, then again in 3 days, then in a week
Mix it up: Don’t just quiz one topic—interleave different subjects and question types

The Bottom Line

Quizzes have suffered from a serious PR problem. We associate them with stress, grades, and judgment—things to be avoided rather than sought out.

But the science is undeniable: Self-quizzing is the single most efficient, effective, and research-backed study technique available. It beats re-reading. It beats highlighting. It beats summarizing. It beats almost everything.

The students who figure this out have an enormous advantage. They study less and remember more. They walk into exams confident. They actually retain what they learn beyond the test.

So next time you sit down to study, ask yourself: “Am I going to re-read my notes for the fifth time, or am I going to actually test myself?”

Choose the quiz. Your future self will thank you.

Ready to make quizzes work for you? Cruxly AI turns your handwritten notes into quizzes instantly. Snap a photo, get questions, ace your exams. Try it free.