Graded quizzes: answer first, then reveal, with a 90% mastery gate (Academy)

Harvested 30 Oct 2026 for the £49.99/month /learn/ Academy grade ladder (the 22:21 brief). 'pass mark', 'retrieval practice' and 'mastery' had 0 skill hits before.

What the evidence states (sources read 30 Oct 2026)

• Testing beats re-reading. Adesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan (2017), a meta-analysis of 217 retrieval-practice studies, summarised by Yana Weinstein (The Learning Scientists): the benefit over restudy was stronger when the gap between study and test was over 1 day, and the result was judged "resistant to the file drawer problem".
• Feedback adds a bit, and it has to come after the attempt. The same summary: retrieval practice with feedback was "only slightly more effective" than without. Rowland (2014, Psychological Bulletin): the testing effect holds without feedback but is enhanced by it, even when the answer was already right. Yang et al. (2020): "Corrective feedback induces greater reexposure and larger learning gains." So the brief's "answer, then Reveal" order is the evidence-backed order. Showing the answer before the attempt turns the quiz back into re-reading.
• Mastery thresholds. Mastery learning (Bloom) sets the bar at 80–90% on a test, with re-teaching and retesting before moving on (Winget 2022, a practical review of mastery learning, PMC). Univ. of Nebraska teaching centre: 80% is the mastery level for a quiz on a single standard. Scholario (2026): "A retake should show new learning, not just familiarity with the same questions."
• Format. Smith & Karpicke (2014, Memory) compared short-answer, multiple-choice and hybrid retrieval. Mixing in some typed or short answers is worth it at higher grades.

How to do it

1. One attempt, then lock. Record the member's answer before Reveal works. Once revealed, that question scores as attempted and the answer can't be changed. Otherwise "reveal, then answer" games the 90% gate.
2. Reveal = answer + one-line why + source link. Keep the explanation to 1–3 sentences and quote the record verbatim with its catalogue ID. Reveal on correct answers too (Rowland: the gain still applies).
3. 90% gate with a fresh retake. At 10 questions, 90% allows one miss; at 20, two. Build each grade from a pool about 2× the quiz length and draw a new mix on retake, so a pass shows learning and not memory of the last attempt. Retake after a short cooldown (for example, the next day). The over-1-day benefit is the reason.
4. Space it: carry-forward items. Put 2–3 questions from earlier grades into each later quiz (the spacing gain). Count them toward the score.
5. Harder by grade, by kind of question and not just by obscurity: recall (dates, places) → read a primary-source extract and answer → compare two records → the open questions. The final grade has no single right answer: score it "attempted with a cited record" and show "what record would settle it" on Reveal. Never present an open point as fact; label it "our case, prospective, not a finding".
6. Measure: first-attempt pass rate per grade (aim for roughly 40–70%; near 100% means too easy, under 20% means a wall), the questions most often missed (rewrite or re-teach them), retakes needed per pass, and churn after a failed attempt.

How we apply it to Cedwyn

• The grades build (a worker) should store answered_at before revealed_at per question, draw from a pool larger than the quiz, and add a 24 h retake cooldown. Both are cheap in D1.
• Grade 1 as a free preview lets visitors feel the answer → reveal loop before paying £49.99. Report its first-attempt pass rate weekly.
• Every Reveal links to the evidence page. That also feeds internal links and time on site.
• Add a "Most-missed questions" list for each grade to the growth report notes. Missed questions point to unclear pages on the site.

Sources

• learningscientists.org (Adesope et al. 2017, 217 studies; read)
• curriculumteamleader.wordpress.com (Rowland 2014; Yang et al. 2020; read)
• teaching.unl.edu (80% mastery; search snippet, not opened)
• scholario.digital (retakes; snippet)
• Winget & Persky 2022, "A Practical Review of Mastery Learning", PMC (snippet; the page returned 403)

Raw Markdown: academy-graded-quiz-attempt-then-reveal-mastery-gate.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json