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What research says

Why Pomlet? Eight reasons from learning research

A quiz is more than a game for the end of a lesson. Decades of research on memory and learning show that answering questions, getting clear feedback and coming back to a topic later help people remember and stay involved. Here are eight findings, how Pomlet puts each one into practice, and three honest limits.

None of these studies tested Pomlet itself: they measure the techniques Pomlet is built on, in schools, universities and laboratories. The figures are averages, and every source is listed at the bottom of the page.

Reread or recall?
83%71%5 minutes later40%61%1 week later
  • Read the text 4 times
  • Read it once, then recalled it 3 times

Share of the ideas of a short science text that students recalled (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006, experiment 2).

Eight reasons at a glance

  1. Recalling beats rereading
  2. It works in real classrooms
  3. Feedback that explains
  4. Questions stop minds from wandering
  5. Game elements give a real boost
  6. Teams make competition friendlier
  7. Coming back days later makes it stick
  8. Low stakes, less stress

Reason 1

Recalling beats rereading

Trying to bring an answer back from memory strengthens it far more than reading the same page again, even though rereading feels easier.

What research found

In a 2006 experiment, students read a short science text four times, or read it once and then tried three times to write down everything they remembered. Five minutes later, the rereaders were ahead (83% of the ideas recalled versus 71%). One week later, the result had flipped: 61% for the students who had practised recall, 40% for those who had only reread. A 2017 meta-analysis of research on practice tests reached the same overall conclusion.

Sources [1] [2]

In Pomlet

Every quiz question makes the room search its memory before the answer appears. With 11 question and activity types, and editable AI drafts from your notes, a PDF or a web page, a five-question recall check takes a few minutes to prepare.

Reason 2

It works in real classrooms

This is not only a laboratory effect: quizzing during a course helps students learn the course itself.

What research found

A 2021 meta-analysis brought together 222 classroom studies with 48,478 students: classes that were quizzed learned more than comparison classes, with an average effect size of g = 0.50, usually described as medium. A systematic review of 50 experiments run in schools and classrooms, published the same year, found the benefit across a range of ages and subjects.

Sources [3] [4]

In Pomlet

Students join from any phone or computer with a PIN, a QR code or a link, without an account or an app. After the session, the report shows how each question went, so you know what to go over again.

Reason 3

Feedback that explains

Knowing you were wrong helps a little. Understanding why helps a lot more.

What research found

A 2020 meta-analysis of 435 studies found an average effect of feedback on learning of d = 0.48. The effect depended strongly on how much information the feedback carried: 0.99 for detailed feedback on the task and how to improve, against 0.24 for simple praise, rewards or punishment.

Sources [5]

In Pomlet

After each question, players see whether they were right and the host screen shows how the answers were spread. You can add an explanation of up to 300 characters that appears right after the answer, or switch “Show explanations” off and comment out loud.

Reason 4

Questions stop minds from wandering

Long stretches of listening invite the mind to drift. Short questions along the way bring it back.

What research found

In a 2013 laboratory study, students watched a 21-minute recorded statistics lecture in four parts. Those who answered short tests between the parts reported mind-wandering about half as often (19% versus 41% of checks), took more notes and did better on the final test. On a larger scale, a 2014 meta-analysis of 225 studies of university science, engineering and maths courses found that active learning raised exam results by 0.47 standard deviations on average, and that students in traditional lectures were 1.5 times more likely to fail (33.8% versus 21.8%).

Sources [6] [7]

In Pomlet

One Pomlet session can alternate slides with questions, polls, word clouds and idea boards, so the room has something to answer every few minutes without leaving the presentation.

Reason 5

Game elements give a real boost

Points, ranks and a little suspense are not just decoration: on average, they help in a measurable way.

What research found

A 2020 meta-analysis of gamification in learning found small but significant positive effects: g = 0.49 on learning outcomes, 0.36 on motivation and 0.25 on behaviour. Another meta-analysis from the same year, covering 30 interventions and 3,202 participants, found an effect of g = 0.50 on academic performance compared with the same teaching without game elements.

Sources [8] [9]

In Pomlet

Points, streaks, a leaderboard between questions, a final podium, music and visual themes. Each element can be dialled down: the host decides when to show the leaderboard, and the music can be turned off.

Reason 6

Teams make competition friendlier

Competing together rather than alone keeps the excitement of the game and adds a sense of belonging.

What research found

In the 2020 meta-analysis on gamification, combining competition with collaboration worked particularly well for behavioural outcomes. In a 2017 experiment, teammates, along with avatars and a story, were the game elements that strengthened participants’ sense of social relatedness. And a 2020 review of 93 studies on the quiz game Kahoot! reports team play as a remedy for the fear of losing, recommended by several of the studies it covers.

Sources [8] [10] [11]

In Pomlet

Teams mode ranks teams instead of individuals. Prepare the team names in advance or shuffle players at random; with “Best answer counts”, only the best answer in each team scores, so a team of three can hold its own against a team of six.

Reason 7

Coming back days later makes it stick

Revisiting a topic after a few days, instead of all at once, makes memories last much longer.

What research found

A 2006 synthesis of 317 experiments found that spreading practice over time beats massing it into one session for long-term retention, and that the best gap grows with how long the knowledge must last. A 2013 review of ten common study techniques rated only two as “high utility”: practice testing and distributed practice. Rereading and highlighting were rated low.

Sources [12] [13]

In Pomlet

Launch the same quiz again a few days later in “Self-paced” mode: everyone answers at their own pace before a deadline (7, 14 or 30 days, or a date you choose), and you can see who has finished. The relaunch is up to you: Pomlet does not schedule it automatically.

Reason 8

Low stakes, less stress

A quiz that counts for nothing lets people try, get it wrong and learn, without the pressure of an exam.

What research found

In a 2014 study, 1,408 middle and high school students who took regular low-stakes quizzes in class were asked about them: 92% said the quizzes helped them learn and 72% said they made them less nervous for tests and exams. These are students’ answers to a questionnaire, not a measurement of anxiety.

Sources [14]

In Pomlet

A Pomlet quiz is for practice: it is not connected to any gradebook. You can switch off “Show score and rank” until the final podium, turn off the “Speed bonus”, choose “No time limit”, and participants play under a nickname.

Limits

Three honest limits

Research also shows where quizzes fall short. Here is what we keep in mind, and what Pomlet does about it.

The effects are averages, and novelty fades

The figures above are averages: results vary with the subject, the questions and the way the activity is run, and a review of 93 studies on the quiz game Kahoot! also found cases with little or no effect. In a 14-week study of 756 students in introductory programming courses, the effect of gamification dropped after about four weeks, then partly recovered as students got used to it.

Sources [11] [15]

What Pomlet does

Pomlet does not rely on a single trick: you can vary the 11 elements, the three live modes and self-paced sessions, and keep the game at the service of the content rather than the other way round.

Speed and leaderboards can stress some people

In the same review, students mentioned stressful time pressure and the fear of losing, and teachers noted that points for speed can push students to guess without thinking. In a 16-week university course, the class with a leaderboard and badges ended the semester with lower motivation and satisfaction, and lower final exam scores, than the class without them.

Sources [11] [16]

What Pomlet does

Turn off the speed bonus, choose “No time limit” and hide each player’s score and rank until the end. Between questions, the host screen shows only the top five by default, Teams mode spreads the pressure across the group, and everyone plays under a nickname.

A quiz does not replace teaching

Answering questions strengthens what people have already met; it does not explain new ideas on its own. In the studies above, the questions come after a reading, a lecture or a lesson: they add to it, they do not replace it.

What Pomlet does

In Pomlet, questions sit next to slides, explanations, open questions and collaborative whiteboards in the same session, and you decide when to pause and explain.

Sources

Each study links to its publisher’s page (DOI). Titles are given in their original language.

  1. [1]Roediger & Karpicke (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3).
  2. [2]Adesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan (2017). Rethinking the use of tests: A meta-analysis of practice testing. Review of Educational Research, 87(3).
  3. [3]Yang, Luo, Vadillo, Yu & Shanks (2021). Testing (quizzing) boosts classroom learning: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(4).
  4. [4]Agarwal, Nunes & Blunt (2021). Retrieval practice consistently benefits student learning: A systematic review of applied research in schools and classrooms. Educational Psychology Review, 33.
  5. [5]Wisniewski, Zierer & Hattie (2020). The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of educational feedback research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10.
  6. [6]Szpunar, Khan & Schacter (2013). Interpolated memory tests reduce mind wandering and improve learning of online lectures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(16).
  7. [7]Freeman et al. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23).
  8. [8]Sailer & Homner (2020). The gamification of learning: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 32.
  9. [9]Bai, Hew & Huang (2020). Does gamification improve student learning outcome? Evidence from a meta-analysis and synthesis of qualitative data in educational contexts. Educational Research Review, 30.
  10. [10]Sailer, Hense, Mayr & Mandl (2017). How gamification motivates: An experimental study of the effects of specific game design elements on psychological need satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 69.
  11. [11]Wang & Tahir (2020). The effect of using Kahoot! for learning – A literature review. Computers & Education, 149.
  12. [12]Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted & Rohrer (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3).
  13. [13]Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan & Willingham (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1).
  14. [14]Agarwal, D’Antonio, Roediger, McDermott & McDaniel (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).
  15. [15]Rodrigues et al. (2022). Gamification suffers from the novelty effect but benefits from the familiarization effect: Findings from a longitudinal study. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 19.
  16. [16]Hanus & Fox (2015). Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: A longitudinal study on intrinsic motivation, social comparison, satisfaction, effort, and academic performance. Computers & Education, 80.

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