Commencing in 1985, a small body of experimental studies on the effects of test taking on delayed retention learning of technical subject matter has been completed in technology education settings. Much of the learning in technology education courses, especially the hands-on aspects, are best assessed via instruments and techniques other than traditional tests; but classroom tests are still important for learning in the cognitive domain and the time that technology teachers spend administering tests is best spent if the tests also help students learn. Two of the studies were completed in public schools and the others were conducted in university classes. One central question in all of the studies concerned the effects of taking tests on the delayed retention of the information tested. Delayed retention is important because that comprises the information and concepts that the student still knows three or more weeks after the effects of "cramming" for the test have evaporated--thus, delayed retention represents the important and significant learning in a technology course. Nine other related factors were examined concerning the types of tests used, time on task, and subtle variations in the setting of the experiments. A total of nine experiments were conducted over a twenty year period. One of the studies failed and the other eight had significant findings of importance in answering the research questions posed. This article reports a meta-analysis conducted by the author of the series of studies to summarize that body of work.