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As a way to summarize the project I have compiled a list of all of the suggestions put forward to improve the quizzes.

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To close my portfolio I have decided to include a reflection on the work I have done for the project.

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While working on this project I wanted to make sure I incorporated the opinion of lecturers as well as students. Included below are the full lists of questions I sent to Nigel Byott and Layal Hakim, as well as their full answers and some comments from me.

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Do the Quizzes Provide Useful and Timely Feedback?

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Do the Quizzes Provide Useful and Timely Feedback?

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As the feedback on the quizzes is given immediately upon completion, it can easily be said that the feedback provided is timely. The more interesting part of the question is whether or not the feedback provided is useful. At first glance it would appear so; the solutions are very well explained and nearly all students rated them as being helpful. However, as the quiz is automated, the only personalized feedback students receive is their score. As it turns out this may be problematic, see "An Interesting Sidebar on Scoring."

The solutions to some extent could be considered feedback, but as it turns out providing such well written solutions is not the most effective form of feedback. The importance of good feedback came up quite often as I was exploring the literature, and as such I have decided to dedicate most of my portfolio to taking an in depth look at the feedback provided with the quizzes.

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Do the Quizzes Help Students Understand and Recognize Quality?

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Do the Quizzes Help Students Understand and Recognize Quality?

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I found this question to be quite closely linked with the question of whether or not the feedback provided by the quizzes is useful, as the way feedback is given is the primary indicator to students the extent to which they are expected to understand the material. In fact, you will see that "clarifying what good performance is" is one of the principles of good feedback. As such, I have decided to cover this topic in my discussion of the seven principles.

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As will be referenced a number of times throughout this portfolio, I conducted a student feedback survey. Included below is the full content of the survey and a complete analysis of the responses to each of the questions.

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The stage one weekly online quizzes are weekly, non-compulsory, formative quizzes on the topics covered in the Structures, Methods, and, in the beginning of the first term, Foundations modules. They are administered through ELE, remaining open for a limited amount of time during the week, and typically allow more than one attempt to be made. Upon completion of the quiz, a student receives instant feedback regarding which questions they answered correctly or incorrectly, and an explanation/solution for each question.

For an example of what the quizzes are like, I have included the quiz, with solutions, from week three of term two this year.

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Do the Quizzes Enhance the Student Learning Experience?

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Do the Quizzes Enhance the Student Learning Experience?

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In order to analyze whether or not the quizzes met this criteria of a good formative assessment, I drew upon both student and staff opinion:

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The first step in looking for ways to improve the quizzes was to look at what design elements go into a quiz that is effective at assisting student learning, and try to find these elements in the quizzes.  While I managed to find quite a bit of useful information, which is included below, the following passage from Innovative Assessment in Higher Education summarizes things rather nicely and gives a list of specific things to look for:

“Can you honestly claim that your assessments:

Enhance the student learning experience?

Provide useful and timely feedback?

Help students to understand and recognize quality?

Lead to improved performance?

[…] Good formative assessment should meet these criteria.”

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While searching the literature for information, I found reference to a study that had been done on the effects of placing a score on a test. The result of the study was very unexpected and, as it turns out, relates quite well to the sixth principle of good feedback.

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Another focus of this project was to look for ways to increase student engagement with the quizzes. While researching the topic, I found that most things that factor into student motivation are beyond the scope of this project, as they relate to bigger picture things such as the physical environment in which students learn. However, I was able to find a few things that are applicable to the quizzes:

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If the solutions are considered to be part of the feedback provided after the quizzes, it may seem like an indication that the feedback is good. As can be seen in the sample quiz and solutions, the solutions are very well written, and as can be seen in the student feedback survey, students find the solutions to be helpful. However, as it turns out, providing full solutions is not very conducive to student learning.

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The Argument for An Online Discussion Forum

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The Argument for An Online Discussion Forum

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The idea to implement some form on discussion forum in ELE related to the quizzes was initially motivated by a passage from Innovative Assessment in Higher Education, which was discussing how the seven principles of feedback applied specifically in an online setting.

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Do the Quizzes Lead to Improved Performance?

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Do the Quizzes Lead to Improved Performance?

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One of the primary motivations of this project was the question as to whether performance on the quizzes was correlated with performance on exams.

Below is a plot of the average quiz score from term one versus the average January Exam score from last year's stage one (currently stage two) students, which was provided to me from Layal. There is clearly a positive correlation between quiz and exam performance.

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This portfolio will showcase the work I have done involving the stage one weekly online quizzes. The primary focuses of the project are

to look for ways to improve the quizzes based on staff opinion, student feedback, and the literature

to analyze data regarding participation and performance in the quizzes with respect to exam performance

to explore ways of increasing student engagement with the quizzes

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As mentioned before, I am going to take a bit of time looking at the feedback given after the quizzes. The following seven principles appeared numerous times in reference to the importance of good feedback, and I have decided to use them to guide my discussion:

Good Feedback...

1. Facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection) in learning

2. Promotes peer and tutor dialogue around learning

3. Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, expected standards)

4. Provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance

5. Delivers high quality information to students about their learning

6. Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self esteem

7. Provides information to teachers that may be used to help shape the teaching