joss ives - group quizzes as an assessment that supports learning (bcapt agm2012)
TRANSCRIPT
Group quizzes as an assessment that supports learning
[email protected]: http://learnification.wordpress.comTwitter: @jossives
After an exam, students will often hang out in the hallway to discuss the exam
Which equation should I have used for question 3?
After an exam, students will often hang out in the hallway to discuss the exam
I totally nailed number 2. I have got to tell these guys what I did.
After an exam, students will often hang out in the hallway to discuss the exam
Now that I’m saying it out loud, I realize where I went wrong on #1
The individual quiz has 4 to 6 items and takes 20 minutes to write
1. Multiple-choice questions
2. Ranking tasks
3. Short problems
All quiz questions are converted to multiple-choice and the the group component takes 10 minutes
A! B!
C!
They receive immediate feedback thanks to the scratch cards
$85 / 500 card $0.17 / card
(or chop up the cards with 50 questions each and the cost drops below $0.05 / card)
http://www.epsteineducation.com
[Other methods to provide immediate feedback include LMSs, online homework systems and some clickers]
The group quiz is the highest level of student engagement I have observed in any of my courses
VS.
Even the shyest students
participate
My students really like the format
Group midterm?Please!!!
[Note: I have used these in my intro calculus-based courses as well as my 3rd-year Quantum Mechanics I course and the feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive]
My students feel that the group quizzes make a large contribution to their learning?
“How much do you feel that group quizzes have contributed to your learning so far in this course?” [W2012, PHYS112]
A) A large contribution to my learning.B) A small contribution to my learning.C) They don’t contribute to my learning.
Anecdotally, they are not satisfied when they find the correct answer through guessing
CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO US WHY E IS THE CORRECT ANSWER?
The most obvious weakness is that this format requires extra time
[For people already using quizzes in their courses, the extra 10 minutes required to add the group component is worth whatever 10 minutes needed to come out]
Writing the individual quiz first moderates worries about social loafers receiving free marks
FREEMARKS
(bwahaha)
Scratching tends to be very democratic, which means that the loudest person doesn’t usually dominate
A!
C
C
There is no compelling evidence that answering first individually improves group performance or learning
01020304050607080
I => G(Individual)
I => G (Group) Group First
Perc
enta
ge C
orre
ct (%
)
[C. Singh, AJP 73 (5), May 2005]
[Note: This suggests a lack of evidence for the best practice suggestion for Mazur’s Peer Instruction (and Think-Pair-Share) that it is crucial that the students vote first individually before they have group discussions]
The questions are reasonably challenging for the students
Group Questions
Individual Questions
All Questions(n=1008)
57.3 1.6%(n=578)
97.8 0.6%(n=565)
2.2 0.6%(n=13)
42.7 1.6%(n=430)
73.0 2.1%(n=314)
27.0 2.1%(n=116)
Correct individuals are infrequently led astray
Group Questions
Individual Questions
All Questions(n=1008)
57.3 1.6%(n=578)
97.8 0.6%(n=565)
2.2 0.6%(n=13)
42.7 1.6%(n=430)
73.0 2.1%(n=314)
27.0 2.1%(n=116)
The group usually outperforms its strongest individual
71.8%
21.0%7.2%0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
Group > Individual(n=209)
Group = Individual(n=61)
Group < Individual(n=21)
Perc
enta
ge
The results for incorrect individuals are consistent with them being in a group with a correct individual
Group Questions
Individual Questions
All Questions(n=1008)
57.3 1.6%(n=578)
97.8 0.6%(n=565)
2.2 0.6%(n=13)
42.7 1.6%(n=430)
73.0 2.1%(n=314)
27.0 2.1%(n=116)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Grou
p qu
estio
n co
rrec
t aft
er a
ll in
divi
dual
s wer
e in
corr
ect (
%)
Groups composed of only incorrect individuals show good evidence of learning
Me Singh Me Gilley
[C. Singh, AJP 73 (5), May 2005] [B. Gilley, S. Harris, Poster, GSA 2012]
Half of the time incorrect groups will the find correct answer on their second try
Group Questions
Individual Questions
All Questions(n=1008)
57.3 1.6%(n=578)
97.8 0.6%(n=565)
2.2 0.6%(n=13)
42.7 1.6%(n=430)
73.0 2.1%(n=314)
27.0 2.1%(n=116)
And this is significantly better than chance
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
Correct Incorrect 1 Mistake 2 Mistakes 3 Mistakes 4 Mistakes
Gro
up (
corr
ect a
fter x
mist
akes
)
In summary: group quizzes
1. Learning takes place
2. Students like them
3. Take extra time but worth it
(stay tuned for results from this past year)
Group exams pros from other literature
• Development of collaboration skills [1].• Students enjoy them and there is an increase
in overall enjoyment of course [1].• Promote higher-level thinking [2].• Increase in student retention of information [3] (Note that Ref. 3 did not control for
time on task).• Improved student learning [2,4].
[1] Stearns, S. (1996). Collaborative Exams as Learning Tools. College Teaching, 44, 111–112.[2] Yuretich, R., Khan, S. & Leckie, R. (2001). Active-learning methods to improve student performance and scientific interest in a large introductory oceanography course. Journal of Geoscience Education, 49, 111–119.
[3] Cortright, R.N., Collins, H.L., Rodenbaugh D.W. & DiCarlo, S.T. (2003). Student retention of course content is improved by collaborative-group testing, Advan. Physiol. Edu. 27: 102-108.[4] Gilley, B. & Harris, S. (2010). Group quizzes as a learning experience in an introductory lab, Poster presented at Geological Society of America 2010 Annual Meeting.
Acknowledgement: The references, discussion of group exams pros/cons and some of the analysis borrow heavily from Ref. [4] (thanks Brett!).