Quizzes or ConcepTests
Faculty gave short graded quizzes or concept tests.
About
With half the faculty invested in using quizzes, we can conclude that they provide a useful, if not ideal, method of collecting feedback about what students seem to know about a given topic. At best, their seemingly low-stakes value can help students practice problem solving and help them prepared for the larger tests. At their worst, they are seen as a tool to force attendance and homework, and measure compliance with a variety of external rules. As such, they are anathema to intrinsic motivation. Because of this punitive taint, some faculty have developed other low-stakes assessments like blogs, journals, student presentations, etc., in hopes of striking a better balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. However, due to their simplicity and their directness for assessing knowledge, it is likely that they will continue to be used by many faculty.
The original study's data and analysis for "Quizzes or ConcepTests" can be found on this link.
What Faculty Have To Say
Strengths (11)
- Direct assessment of students’ understanding
- Feedback for both students and faculty
- Chunks and reinforce key concepts
- Provides regular practice that helps retention
- Is good practice for exams
- Is low stakes and formative
- Takes the temperature of the class
- Helps faculty know what to re-teach
- Makes students accountable for homework, readings, attendance
- Maintains engagement in class
- Promotes peer learning if done in groups or as take-home
Weaknesses (13)
- Creates a punitive environment
- Rewards good behavior (attendance, regurgitation, keeping up) instead of motivating them to learn intrinsically
- Suited towards low-level knowledge
- Encourages shallow learning
- Not good for big concepts
- Mediocre diagnostic tool
- Privileges good test takers
- Students dislike them
- Students find them stressful
- Forces keeping up, not learning
- Can be seen as punishment for not paying attention
- Takes time to mask, give, and grade
- Not taken seriously if not graded
Pedagogy Usage
Bucknell faculty was asked their best estimate for how often in the semester they used Quizzes or ConcepTests and the average class time it took.
Average Duration: 13 min (mode=10)
Remote Suggestions
Providing opportunities for instructors to check on student understanding is still critical, so designing formative, even non-graded, quizzes or assessments is critical. In a remote setting, this can be done using a Moodle quiz, a journal entry, or any of a large variety of ways. Students also benefit from practicing peer-grading or peer-writing evaluations.
Resources for Additional Learning
Articles & Books
- Giving a Quiz Every Lecture by Robert Ehrlich
- The No-Fault Quiz by Ruth Sporer: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/87567550109595848?journalCode=vcol20
- Active Learning Exercises are more Motivating than Quizzes for Underachieving College Students by David L. Watson, Debra A. Kessler, Samia Kalla, Carolyn M. Kam, Kozue Ueki: http://prx.sagepub.com/content/78/1/131.short
Websites
- Carnegie Mellon University's Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation
- The Learning House Center for Teaching and Learning