Well I’ve just finished creating a quiz in Moodle. This is the second quiz I’ve attempted to make using Moodle, and it was a much different experience.
For one thing, since I’ve worked with the Moodle quiz-maker in the past, I spent a lot less time tearing my hair out than last time! The method for setting up a quiz certainly takes some getting used to 🙂
The other big difference was that this time around, I automated the assessment and feedback (for everything except the essay questions). The first time I made a quiz in Moodle, I was really frustrated, and kept thinking (and possibly yelling at my computer) “I just want to write the question, and write the answers! Why are there a zillion blanks to fill in?!?!” Now I get it. Fill in the blanks now, put in all the information at the start, and when your students actually take the quiz, they’ll have a more productive experience, and have immediate feedback when they get an answer wrong (or right!). This aligns with Gibbs & Simpson’s (2005) Condition 6 which states, “The feedback is timely in that it is received by students while it still matters to them and in time for them to pay attention to further learning or receive further assistance” (p. 18). Providing built-in, instant feedback allows the student to find out immediately what they’ve gotten wrong and right, both reaffirming correct information, and correcting misinformation before it fossilizes.
I don’t intend to “mark” the quiz I created. It’s designed to be a pre-test, that is, a way to generate interest in the topic and give students an idea of what they know and don’t know about the topic coming up. So even though I want them to be able to see how well they did on the quiz, it obviously shouldn’t count towards their final grade!This approach relates to the second assessment condition as described by Gibbs and Simpson (2005) which encourages assessment “orienting (students) to allocate appropriate amounts of time and effort to the most important aspects of the course” (p.14). Now, admittedly the quiz questions I’ve written could probably be improved upon. Ideally, these questions would cut to the very core of the issues we’ll discuss in class, and in so doing provide a good foothold for the students as they start to engage with the the topic. In reality, some of the questions are probably a bit weak/unfocused, as much of my attention in creating the quiz was focused on the nuts and bolts of putting the thing together!
Something I’ve been considering as I construct my Moodle course is whether or not quizzes and tests should be used for assessment purposes in my course at all. Because my course is designed to promote critical thinking and discourse, quizzes and tests may not be the best way to evaluate or assess student learning. Instead, I intend to use quizzes as a sort of “jumping off point” for each topic, to give the students some context. Completion of quizzes before and after each module will, if anything, be graded simply based on whether or not the student completed the quiz or not. It’s essentially a participation mark.
Actual assessment and grading will come from coursework in the form of discussion board posts, presentations, and participation in activities.
The most important thing I’ve taken away from this exercise and the readings for the week is simply to be more cognizant of how and why I use the assessment methods I do. I’ve always disliked assessment (as a student and as a teacher), but perhaps I’ve just been looking at it the wrong way. If conducted properly, assessment should help guide and inspire learning, and be a continuing conversation between the student, teacher, and content. Now how do I make my Moodle quiz do that?!
Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2005). “Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning.” Learning and Teaching in Higher Education