Recently, I have written a blogpost in German on use of interactive multiple choice test in evaluating students. Here are the bullet points in English:
- interactive tests are tests that give students the possibility to solve questions, quizzes and exams interactively, usually based on computers.
- they are a great way to make tests not only evaluation but also learning exercises. Students can get immediate feedback, can have multiple tries. Tests can even be adaptive in the sense that the subsequent questions react to the difficulties or degree of ease with which students answer the previous ones.
- yet, new solutions also raise new problems. The most important of these is test anxiety. While MC tests already are a stressful experience for students, on-screen solutions can make matters worse.
- I am currently doing a couple of trial runs, comparing different test designs to see which ones work better or worse. The paper & pencil version indeed seems to invoke a little less stress, but students nonetheless preferred the electronic version.
- Hence, the task is to make simple design choices (visual, pedagogical) that allow to make best use of interactive tests while holding test anxiety to an acceptable level.
Polidigwerkschdaeddle 