6.5.3 Quiz tool
The quiz tool enables you to build quizzes comprising questions of various different types, such as multiple choice, matching, short-answer and numerical. It also has an essay question type, however this is less useful in an open online course with no tutor because it cannot easily be marked unless there is human intervention for marking unique textual answers. A quiz can be used for both formative and summative type assessment. It can be set up to record that a person has attempted the questions or that the learner has reached an appropriate grade score to pass the quiz.
A formative quiz can give learners opportunities to test out how much they have absorbed during a course topic, providing stepped feedback for multiple attempts which may direct them to think about different aspects of a question.
For example:
Learners are asked to complete a quiz checking whether they have understood a concept which has been explained in the text. The quiz consists of some multiple choice and some drag and drop questions. The questions give the learner feedback after each attempt which builds upon the previous information provided and after the third attempt directs the learner back to specific course material to review before they attempt the quiz again 24 hours later. None of the questions are graded or carry any penalty and the completion criteria is set to record that the learner attempted and submitted the quiz.
A summative quiz can capture learner responses to the questions which count towards the completion criteria for a digital badge or course certificate.
For example:
Learners are asked to complete the end of course quiz to test how much they have learned when studying the course. The quiz consists of multiple choice, drag and drop, Yes/No, matching and numerical questions. The questions give the learners feedback after each attempt and after the third attempt directs the learner back to the specific course material to review before they attempt the question again 24 hours later. All the questions are graded, some carry a percentage deduction penalty for second and third attempts. The completion criteria is set to to record the grade which the learner achieves on the quiz. If the learner fails to achieve the pass grade they may reattempt the quiz 24 hours later.
It is really important to think about potential quiz questions while writing or compiling the course rather than leaving the quiz question building until the end of authoring, as there are bound to be opportunities to integrate the quiz into the course and it is easier to do this if you think about how you might ask a question and test understanding from the start rather than bolting it on later. For example the author might write a section and put holding text in the content for activities including quizzes, with rough notes on possible questions to ask. This may also help with writing the content and the perspectives included in the text. Building effective quiz questions is a skill which the author can develop especially if collaborating with others who have experience of what makes a good question which can be answered without writing an essay and which really challenges the learner to think carefully about what they’ve learned.
6.5.2 Questionnaire tool