International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Volume 2, Number 1, January 2008

Return to current issues page

Research Article

Abstract

Research suggests that frequent, regularly scheduled quizzing is associated with pedagogically desirable outcomes such as higher performance on exams.  It was hypothesized that requiring students to complete brief scheduled online quizzes on assigned reading material before class would also result in increases in both the number of in-class questions and comments and the number of students who read the material prior to class.  For each of 3 semesters, students in 1 section of introductory psychology who took time-limited, out-of-class, “open-book” WebCT quizzes on daily readings were compared to students in another section who did not take quizzes during that unit.  Because each section participated in quizzing during 2 units and no quizzing during 2 units, within-section comparisons were also made.  Analyses indicated that quizzing was associated with increases in both the number of student questions and comments made at the beginning of class and the number of students who reported that they came to class having read the assigned material.  It was suggested that the immediate feedback provided by quizzes is particularly efficient in identifying areas of misunderstanding and in challenging students’ “illusion of knowing” the material.  Spontaneous, anonymous comments on end-of-unit surveys also suggested that a primary value of online quizzing is in helping students maintain a regular reading and study schedule. 

Keywords:  quizzing, online, scheduled quizzes, student reading, class participation, preparation, question-asking

View Full Article

Bio

Michael Marcell
College of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina, USA
marcellm@cofc.edu

I am a Professor of Psychology in my 30th year of teaching at the College of Charleston, a liberal arts undergraduate college in the southeastern United States. My Ph.D. in experimental psychology was earned at Vanderbilt University in 1978. My research has been in the areas of developmental and cognitive psychology, with my most recent focus on the study of how people understand natural sounds. Recent courses that I have taught include Introduction to Psychological Science, Research Methods, Research Methods and Statistics, and Laboratory in Cognitive Psychology. Website:  http://www.cofc.edu/~marcellm/

Return to current issues page