Forum Discussion
Quiz versus completion
My team has developed an online module about research ethics and integrity in Rise (10 units). In several units we have included some cases studies with questions. It is with restricted navigation, so that we make sure people complete all the activities. The module is intended for Staff and Students at a university.
Currently the course is in Workday and it is marked as Complete or Incomplete. The course has no quiz at the end to evaluate the acquisition of all the content. At the moment the module is not compulsory, but it might be compulsory in the near future. We wonder if it would be good to add a quiz that evaluates the adquision of all the units of the course, or the completion would be enough. What are your views? If you think a quiz is a good idea, are there any guidelines on how many questions is a good number? If you know any relevant study/document/book that has shown that a quiz at the end is beneficial that would be very much appreciated!
Many thanks!
Karen
2 Replies
My opinions only.
If the module is compulsory, and you are only concerned that they proceed through it end-to-end, then make it as interactive as possible; otherwise you are only frustrating the learners.
Including a quiz that evaluates content understanding is a good idea. Making that comprehensive of all 10 segments is also a good idea - if the learners know that up front, and have access to all of the modules so they can review the information while taking the quiz. I presume you are not creating some type of advancement exam that requires full memorization in order to pass successfully, so treat your learners as you would like to be treated, and how you probably work: when you don't know the answer, you go search for it...
If it is compulsory, and you need to track performance on all segments, then you will need some type of quiz or measurement. I would suggest that you build a question bank that has 3-5 questions for each of the 10 segments; then at the end, create a draw that pulls two questions from each segment, and make it an "80% pass" score to receive credit for the course.
The 80% score is an acceptable standard in nearly every adult learning context that I know of. There is likely research (available in ERIC?) that was done well over 30 years ago that supports this position.
But as long as you are only concerned about sequential completion, then please make it as interactive as you can. The attention span you save may be your own. (-:
JHauglie thank you very much for your response and sharing your perceptions. I agree with you that adding a quiz at the end is good. My team wonders if there is any evidence from studies that it is a better approach than only considering the completion of the module.
The idea is not to add an advancement exam but a knowledge check with the inclusion of some case studies maybe.
