HOW DO STUDENTS RESPOND WHEN YOU PROVIDE THEM WITH 1000+ PRACTICE QUESTIONS?

The Confidence-Based Learning Accuracy Support System (CLASS) houses a suite of practice quizzes composed of more than 1,000 multiple-choice questions tied to learning objectives for an introductory physical geology course. The quizzes were designed to provide students with multiple opportunities to assess their learning of course topics. Each quiz draws on a quiz bank of more than 100 questions divided among 8-10 learning objectives. Each time that a student attempts a quiz they are provided with 10 questions drawn at random from the quiz bank. Quiz questions feature a variety of formats including traditional true/false (TF), double TF, traditional one-answer MC, select all that apply MC, and fill in the blank. The quizzes are provided to the students as mastery quizzes, i.e., students can take each quiz as many times as they like and their highest score counts toward their course grade. While our initial hypothesis was that most students would simply complete the quizzes a sufficient number of times to earn a maximum score, students utilized the quizzes in more-varied and unexpected ways. We will detail these usage patterns and discuss potential explanations for their variation.

Additionally, the quizzing tool records both student performance and level of confidence in their answers to each question. Using the extensive quiz question database, we break down how student performance varied with: a) question type; b) learning objectives; c) topics; and d) student confidence judgments. We are especially interested in identifying questions where students consistently answered incorrectly but were confident of their answer choice. Recognizing how student performance varies within and across topics provides valuable information that has the potential to inform instructors’ teaching practices and identify gaps in student understanding of course content.