Using Weekly Computer-Based Quizzes to Enhance Student Learning

Wednesday, 14 July 2004

This presentation is part of 4: Poster Session

Using Weekly Computer-Based Quizzes to Enhance Student Learning

Description: Weekly computer-based quizzes were introduced in the General Pathology course to improve student retention of content. It was concluded that weekly computer-based, open book quizzes are an effective teaching tool with an unanticipated advantage.
Presentation Format: Poster
Topic: Measuring outcomes: Student achievement and course success
Target Audience: Course Designers, Faculty and Other Instructors
Appropriate Audience Level: Beginning or new users of WebCT
WebCT Version:
Abstract Text: Objectives -- Weekly computer-based quizzes were introduced in the General Pathology course to: 1. Reduce the importance of the single final examination. 2. Encourage weekly review of course material. 3. Facilitate memorization of important facts. 4. Direct students’ attention to important topics in their textbook not presented formally in class.
Description of Educational Project -- 1. Quizzes were released for a limited time, following each of 5 weekly modules. 2. Quizzes were available on the General Pathology course website 3. Each quiz consisted of 10-20 case-based questions that were frequently linked to graphic images. 4. Answer format was multiple-choice or matching. 5. Quizzes were to be taken independently and were open-book. 6. Following termination of the window for test-taking, the quizzes were scored by computer and released to the students with their grades and the correct answers. 7. Each quiz was worth 2%, for a total of 10% of the final grade.
Evaluation -- 1. Student compliance in taking the quizzes ranged from 95-99%. 2. Results were generated on specific questions and the quiz overall by individual students and the entire class. 3. Overall grades on the quizzes were high. 4. Student feedback by E-value showed 87.6% agreeing that quizzes were a “worthwhile . . . means of teaching and reinforcing selected course material,” and 91.2% desiring to “continue the quizzes as a percentage of [the] final grade.” In free text, several students volunteered that the quizzes forced them to keep up with course material.
Conclusions -- 1. Weekly computer-based open book quizzes are an effective teaching tool. 2. An unanticipated advantage to the quizzes was that analysis of student answers permitted prompt intervention on occasional topics shown to be problematic to the class. 3. Student compliance was high and feedback was favorable.

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Description:	Weekly computer-based quizzes were introduced in the General Pathology course to improve student retention of content. It was concluded that weekly computer-based, open book quizzes are an effective teaching tool with an unanticipated advantage.
Presentation Format:	Poster
Topic:	Measuring outcomes: Student achievement and course success
Target Audience:	Course Designers, Faculty and Other Instructors
Appropriate Audience Level:	Beginning or new users of WebCT
WebCT Version:
Abstract Text:	Objectives -- Weekly computer-based quizzes were introduced in the General Pathology course to: 1. Reduce the importance of the single final examination. 2. Encourage weekly review of course material. 3. Facilitate memorization of important facts. 4. Direct students’ attention to important topics in their textbook not presented formally in class. Description of Educational Project -- 1. Quizzes were released for a limited time, following each of 5 weekly modules. 2. Quizzes were available on the General Pathology course website 3. Each quiz consisted of 10-20 case-based questions that were frequently linked to graphic images. 4. Answer format was multiple-choice or matching. 5. Quizzes were to be taken independently and were open-book. 6. Following termination of the window for test-taking, the quizzes were scored by computer and released to the students with their grades and the correct answers. 7. Each quiz was worth 2%, for a total of 10% of the final grade. Evaluation -- 1. Student compliance in taking the quizzes ranged from 95-99%. 2. Results were generated on specific questions and the quiz overall by individual students and the entire class. 3. Overall grades on the quizzes were high. 4. Student feedback by E-value showed 87.6% agreeing that quizzes were a “worthwhile . . . means of teaching and reinforcing selected course material,” and 91.2% desiring to “continue the quizzes as a percentage of [the] final grade.” In free text, several students volunteered that the quizzes forced them to keep up with course material. Conclusions -- 1. Weekly computer-based open book quizzes are an effective teaching tool. 2. An unanticipated advantage to the quizzes was that analysis of student answers permitted prompt intervention on occasional topics shown to be problematic to the class. 3. Student compliance was high and feedback was favorable.