This phenomenon — testing yourself on an idea or concept to help you remember it — is called the “testing effect” or “retrieval practice.” People have known about the idea for centuries. Sir Francis Bacon mentioned it, as did the psychologist William James. In 350 BCE, Aristotle wrote that “exercise in repeatedly recalling a thing strengthens the memory.”
Another theory is that information goes into our brains attached to context.
Sobel realized that his students were studying in exactly the wrong way, by rereading their notes the night before his two exams.
A vastly better model, Sobel thought, would be one where he essentially forced his students to retrieve knowledge over and over again throughout the course.
So, every semester, instead of two exams, he started giving his students nine quizzes.
Sobel has tried to talk to his colleagues about the results he was seeing with quizzing, but he says most of them aren’t interested in switching from a few exams to multiple quizzes. “University faculty are considered very smart, but are also very conservative,” Sobel said. “We don’t like to change our ways.”
He’d give a lecture. Then, 20 minutes later, he’d follow up with a multiple-choice question from the material he had just covered. Handheld electronic “clicker” devices would record the students’ responses on his computer.
getting students to problem-solve. He gets them actively engaged with course material, working in smaller groups. The techniques have become known as an evidence-based, “active learning” style of teaching.
sees himself as a kind of cognitive coach rather than the classic “sage on the stage,” delivering knowledge. His lecturing, such as it is, is merely to prime the undergrads to grapple with the concepts and key questions on their own and try to figure out what’s important — or not.
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This phenomenon — testing yourself on an idea or concept to help you remember it — is called the “testing effect” or “retrieval practice.” People have known about the idea for centuries. Sir Francis Bacon mentioned it, as did the psychologist William James. In 350 BCE, Aristotle wrote that “exercise in repeatedly recalling a thing strengthens the memory.”
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More on the use of quizzes as a conversation starter and/or training tool (versus assessment tool) in this IMS blog
Tropman, E., (2014). In defense of reading quizzes. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 26 (1), 140-146.
Brame, C. J. and Biel, R., (2015). Test-enhanced learning: The potential for testing to promote greater learning in undergraduate science courses. Cell Biology Education—Life Sciences Education, 14 (Summer), 1-12.
Collaborative quizzing
Quizzing with resources
Quizzing after questioning
Online quizzes completed before class
Q: students reported that he could not open the quiz for a new attempt because it said he has an “attempt in progress” and “time exceeded”. How do I clear these hidden (to me) open attempts.
How do I submit (finish) the quiz for the user?
A:
Go to your quiz. Open the quiz
select Grade in the scroll down menue
make sure it is restricted to “all users,” hit magnifying glass.
check boxes in front of the attempts which need to be deleted and click on the trash can.
To submit (finish) the attempt for the user, watch for the following icon and click on it:
Question: How do I filter and search for Quiz Submissions and Dropbox Submissions?Answer: This has been confusing to users who expect the filter to run automatically after they select a filter option from the drop-down. It is necessary to click the Search icon/button to display the filter results.
Issue: How do I set the correct responses to quiz questions and how can they be weighted?
Solution: T/F, Multiple Choice, Short Answer, Fill in the Blank, and Multiple Short Answer question types allow for weighting the correct or partially correct responses for automatically grading the questions. See details at: https://d2l.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1293/
Issue: What does the “Normal” quiz submission type mean?
Solution: Within a quiz’s “Restrictions” settings, you can select one of three submission options: Normal, Late or Auto-Submit. (The default is “Normal.”)
Go to FAQ https://d2l.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1298 for details on “Normal” quiz submission.