I discovered an interesting phenomenon as I was putting together a quiz in Moodle. I did not find it difficult to create the quiz, nor did I find it difficult to include each of the different types of questions, but it took me A LOT longer to finish than I expected it to. There is good documentation to help with figuring out what each quiz option is for, and the preview option is useful to quickly check for errors.
I did find the initial stages of making the quiz a little counterintuitive, though I should mention that I also find Adobe programs a little bit counterintuitive because I’m so used to Microsoft programs, so I’m not trying to claim that Moodle is awkward to use. Another aspect of Moodle that I had difficulty with was the short answer questions. I had problems finding good answers that students would choose, as many of the answers that I would normally accept were marked wrong in the quiz.
I also took some time in trying to decide if there should be multiple attempts allowed, and if there should be penalties for wrong answers. The options that Moodle offers really force you to examine your philosophy on teaching and assessment, and in the end I decided not to allow multiple attempts at each question. I made this choice because I felt that in questions where the correct answer is available (ie. multiple choice or matching) one opportunity promotes deeper learning of future material than having multiple chances with penalties.
I spent the most time out of anything working on feedback. Both Gibbs & Simpson (2005) and Chickering & Gamson (1987) stress the importance of providing timely feedback while it is still relevant to the student, and Moodle is an excellent tool for addressing this need. I wanted to make sure that the feedback was specific to the material, and that it identified where the student was incorrect, rather than an ego/self esteem type of feedback such as how the student’s answers compared to those of other students (Gibbs & Simpson, 2005).
Overall, I found this activity most useful for forcing me to examine my beliefs about what assessment methods are most effective, as well as what contexts make some methods better assessment techniques than others.
References
Chickering, A.W. and Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7.
Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1, 3-31.