Even though the quiz is a required component of this course, I would include this quiz as part of my assessment. “Quality online learning provides many opportunities for assessment” and some students prefer quizzes or tests over written, case-studies or peer assessment (Anderson, 2008a, p. 49). My students will have several opportunities for assessment, including asynchronous discussion, but this quiz is an important element. It is also a great tool as it will help decrease my workload, as it will be substantial with detailed reading (Anderson, 2008a). The quiz will help me provide timely feedback, as most of the questions will mark themselves, multiple choice, and give students feedback immediately (Anderson, 2008b). I have used a multiple choice quiz for this unit in the past, in face-to-face classrooms, and used this as a template to create my “new” online quiz. However, this assignments requirements required me to make several changes, including adding short answer, matching and essay questions. These changes allowed me to assess my practice and change, as my original quiz may have been largely ineffective to support online learning (Gibbs & Simpson, 2005). Even though the advantages of computer-aided assessment (CAA) include repeatability, immediacy of response to students and reliability and equitably, I believe that my original quiz had these components (Jenkins, 2004). My original quiz was made on my computer and could be reproduced quickly, it was marked quickly as it was only 10 questions that we could mark in class and it was quite reliable. However, I think changing my quiz has allowed me to increase “student interest and motivation” and “student-centred skills and learning” allowing students to take control of their own learning (Jenkins, 2004, p. 70). In particular, I added a picture for students to write about, which will allow for much more creativity and critical thinking on my students’ part.

In terms of difficulty, I found making my “new” quiz was fairly easy, as I was transcribing questions and information I have on my computer. However, I had a difficult time changing some questions to be more open-ended, as my original quiz was only multiple choice. Also, I think that essay questions seem to be a lot to ask for only a quiz. Despite that, I think my essay questions are creative and would elicit some of the best responses.

Resources:
Anderson, T. (2008a). “Towards and theory of online learning.” In Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.

Anderson, T. (2008b). “Teaching in an Online Learning Context.” In: Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.

Gibbs, G. & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Accessed online 11 March 2009. http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf

Jenkins, M. (2004). Unfulfilled promise: Formative assessment using computer-aided assessment. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. 1, 67-78.