An educational psychologist investigated the impact of gamified versus traditional digital learning modules on students' retention of historical facts.
She recruited a volunteer sample of 40 sixth-form students from a local college. All participants completed both learning modules.
After completing each learning module, participants completed a questionnaire consisting of 25 closed questions about the historical content (e.g., "Was the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919?").
The median number of correct and incorrect answers for each condition was calculated. The results are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 The median number of correct and incorrect answers under both learning conditions
| Gamified condition | Traditional condition | |
|---|---|---|
| The median number of correct answers | 21 | 14 |
| The median number of incorrect answers | 4 | 11 |
The psychologist used closed questions on the questionnaire.
Explain one reason why it might have been better to use open questions rather than closed questions in this study.
Practise AQA A Level Psychology Self-report techniques with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 40 questions, matched to the AQA A Level Psychology (7182) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.