Personal Blogs

“Students are allowed multiple attempts at each question (the maximum score diminishing with each attempt). They receive feedback after each attempt, tailored to the student’s actual answer. The feedback after the final attempt usually includes a full worked solution or equivalent. We have also introduced a “hint” option, to help those, who don’t know how to approach a question” (Ekins, 2007 p. 165). The science FutureLearn modules I have taken do this too.

“Students reported that they enjoyed the interactive quizzes, as well as finding them useful in checking their understanding and stimulating their learning” (Ekins, 2007 p. 173). I agree, finding them useful and interesting too.

Ekins (2007), The use of interactive on-line formative quizzes in Mathematics

My research:

1)      Socrative is an online quizzing tool

Reference https://blogs.loucoll.ac.uk/learningtechnology/2011/06/13/using-interactive-quizzes-for-formative-assessment/

2)      Using formative quizzes for continuous learning and assessment

“Adapted in part from Macquarie University’s iLearn application and Harry Tuttle’s ‘Education with Technology’ blog.  

In terms of online practice or formative quizzes:

 Students benefit greatly from being able to take online practice quizzes. These quizzes focus on the critical lower-level thinking learning for the students. The students can practice these activities on online quizzes, therefore, freeing up class time for higher-level thinking activities.

 Students do not have to wonder if their answer is correct or not as they answer a question, the quiz programme tells the student. Students get immediate reaction to their answer; they do not have to wait until the next class which may be 24 hours, 48 hours or more away.

 Students can read the teacher-provided strategy for improvement for each wrong answer. The students do not just know that they are incorrect but they see an explanation of how to improve. They learn how to do it correctly; they improve through formative assessment.

Students can begin to use their new strategy as they encounter a problem using the same concept that they just missed. They can verify if they are applying the strategy correctly.

 Students can answer without feeling badly about having a wrong answer as can happen in a class. No other student knows.

 Students can retake a practice quiz as often as they want to improve their score. If the practice quizzes are truly formative then no mark will be recorded. Students will demonstrate their learning in class and on summative tests.

 Teachers can quickly analyse in what areas students are successful and in what areas they have demonstrated learning gaps. They can select an appropriate learning strategy for each student for class.

 If formative quizzes are used for homework, then lecturers can use them to mark and give feedback (if set up to do this). Lecturers then do not have to individually mark a lot of scripts or explain individually to each student which answers are incorrect and what strategy will work for each incorrect answer.

 Both students and teachers can see the students’ progress over time as they see the online quiz scores. In addition, lecturers may notice patterns over time and can adapt their teaching and learning strategies to address students’ learning gaps and misunderstandings accordingly. (Adapted from Harry G Tuttle’s blog)”

Harry G Tuttle’s ‘Education with Technology’ blog: http://eduwithtechn.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/10-reasons-to-use-online-practice-quizzes-formative-assessment/

3)      UCB Online 9.1 Creating an Online Test/Quiz

“UCB Online has the ability to allow you to create interactive and engaging online tests/quizzes for formative pieces of assessment. Having the ability for students to complete the tests online, allows students to monitor there own progress and gauge the areas that they require additional support on. Also UCB Online has its own built in assessment engine, allowing ease of marking and grading to be performed based on criteria set by the individual academic. For more information on the areas of online assessment, access the following web resource: JISC InfoNet – Assessment”.

http://students.ucb.ac.uk/wiki/GetFile.aspx?File=%2FUser-Guide%2FLearning%20Technologies%2FCreatingatest2.pdf

4)      Effective Assessment in a Digital Age. A guide to technology-enhanced assessment and feedback

“Where students make extensive use of technology in their learning – for example, by accessing resources, taking formative tests and submitting assignments online – it seems logical that at least some aspects of the curriculum are assessed by computer. The 2009 JISC Report on Summative e-Assessment Quality (REAQ) provides evidence that some students prefer to take assessments on a computer, because they are more familiar with using a keyboard than writing longhand. The report also highlights an additional gain: the ‘e’ factor ie aspects of computer-assisted assessment that would be time-consuming or impossible to reproduce in paper-based tests. These include animations and rich media, which add authenticity to the experience of assessment. Immediate, quality-assured feedback in formative assessment is a further advantage from computer-assisted assessment noted in the report” (JISC, 2010 p. 34).

“A personal online technology such as an e-portfolio system offers further opportunities for the assessment of learning. The BSc students use the blogging tool in the Mahara e-portfolio system to explore links between their theoretical knowledge and their experiences while on work placement; they also support one another via the e-portfolio blogging tool when researching for their dissertation. By setting up their own blogs, students can upload and share digital resources such as RSS feeds, YouTube clips, online journals, newspaper articles and websites” (JISC, 2010 p. 37).