A variety of factors can undermine performance on a test beyond lack of knowledge, such as anxiety and misinterpretations of the questions. But there are four simple things that instructors can do with their tests to minimize these confounding variables.
Quizzes provide both students and teachers with a snapshot of student learning. But students often just look at the grade rather than think about the learning that it represents and what to do about it. Similarly, instructors often only look at class performance rather than
Quizizz has long been a popular app for developing and delivering quizzes to students, and like many apps, it has received major upgrades with the integration of generative AI. These upgrades save instructors time and can personalize learning for each student.
Most professional program curricula focus on the required specialized knowledge and skills to meet the profession’s needs. Yet graduates need more than subject matter competencies to meet the requirements of their professional work. Our graduates must be capable of solving complex problems and have dynamic
Anxious not to be guilty of “policing,” many faculty work hard to prevent academic dishonesty by focusing on student motivation (making learning fun!), feelings (never prompt anxiety!), and (especially for professors who believe themselves to be au courant in terms of pedagogy) “scaffolding” assignments to
While written assessments are the most common tool for measuring learning today, the earliest form of assessment was oral. The Socratic dialectic used by the ancient Greeks, and still used today in Oxford’s tutorial system, combined learning and assessments through a conversation with the student.
With the end of the semester looming, how often have you begun class wondering where the students have gone? Does it seem like the first day of class had every seat filled, but now there are a lot more seats open? That used
“This is going to be very casual,” I tell each student at the beginning of their neurophysiology oral exam. “I’m going to ask you some questions; feel free to take your time and reference your notes.” My experience with oral exams began in high
Before March 2020, I believed firmly that frequent, in-class quizzes were a way to ensure students had prepared for class and had some understanding of the material. In fact, I was notorious for pop quizzes, although I did make it a practice of dropping the
1. I call my quizzes “knowledge checks.” The name emphasizes the primary purpose of the quiz—to discover what the student has not mastered in the assigned material. Students do not associate the word “quiz” with my formative intentions so I avoid using it.
2. Both
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