Timed / Repetitive Quizzes

The development of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) is an important learning goal since it signals proficiency at the first three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy:

Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge

Homework, online or traditional, is structured to engage the learner's Higher Order Thinking Skills by posing questions that require mastery at the Application, Analysis or Synthesis levels of cognitive thought.  What is needed, however, are online exercises that assist and gauge the learner's progress through the Knowledge and Comprehension levels.  Without required activities that assist in the assimilation of Knowledge (Memorization of Essential Chemical Facts and Comprehension of Chemical Facts and Ideas) many students choose to proceed directly to the "assigned" material (homework) and by-pass the time-intensive process of reading and memorizing - activities on which the "assigned" material is based.  This "assignment-oriented" approach by the student quickly leads to frustration since the learner does not possess the Knowledge to work independently on the assignment. Students alleviate their frustration by finding "help" to complete the assignment.  "Help" may be the instructor, a teaching assistant or another student AND "help" may be a thorough explanation or just the answer - homework assignments cannot discriminate between the two. "Help" rarely includes the learner reading the text book and memorizing essential facts!

Chem21 has developed (and patented) a fun, interactive and engaging approach that requires student mastery at the lowest levels of cognitive thought. Timed / Repetitive Quizzes (TRQs) contain basic course information in a multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank format that the student must answer Perfectly to progress toward the available points. If a student answers a quiz Perfectly and beats the Quiz Time, they earn full credit on the quiz. If a student answers a quiz Perfectly but does not beat the Quiz Time, the computer "banks" that completed quiz. When the number of "banked" quizzes reaches a value set by the instructor, that student also earns full credit on the quiz. (If at any point the student submits a perfect quiz that beats the Quiz Time, they earn full credit on the assignment) This bimodel approach enjoys widespread student-acceptance since proficient students are spared the "busy work" of corporal repetition while non-proficient students are challenged to complete the quiz without looking up the answers (i.e. beat the Quiz Time) but can complete the assignment by submitting a certain number of Perfect quizzes. The "Repetitive" part of TRQs is the SPACED-ASSIGNMENT of the same information. To place facts into long-term memory, typical memorization protocols require 5 - 8 specific interactions with the material that is to be memorized. A TRQ over information in a specific chapter can be assigned repeatedly by the instructor (5 - 8 times) to ensure that the Knowledge and Comprehension level of the class is relatively homogeneous. Knowledge homogeneity occurs during the SPACED-ASSIGNMENT of the TRQs as more and more non-proficient students gain (and retain) proficiency. If Higher Order Thinking Skills (i.e. online Homework assignments) are assessed after TRQs are used to build basic course Knowledge, most students will be able to operate at this higher level of cognitive thought and learning gains will be realized for a larger segment of the class.

Instructors can change the following TRQ parameters to produce a customized TRQ.

  1. Quiz Question Pool - the specific questions that can appear on a Student Quiz are selected by the instructor from a Keyword Searchable list maintained by Chem21Labs. In a future version, users will be able to add their own Questions.
  2. Quiz Time - the time deemed to represent a desired level of proficiency is entered by the instructor. If a student submits a Perfect quiz in less than (or equal to) the time set by the instructor, they receive all the Quiz Points and they are finished with the assignment.
  3. Quiz Points - the points awarded to the student for submitting a Perfect quiz AND beating the Quiz Time. It's also the points awarded to the student for submitting a certain Number of Perfect Quizzes. Students can only earn the Quiz Points or Zero Points.
  4. Number of Quizzes - the Number of Perfect Quizzes that must be completed to receive the Quiz Points - these Perfect Quizzes do not need to be consecutive.
  5. Number of "Sets" - the number of times a student must earn Quiz Points between the Start and Due Date.
  6. Minimum Waiting Period - the minimum time a student must wait between "Sets"

Finally, TRQs are terrific online reviews for Final Exams, ACS Exams, Semester Reviews (assign first semester material during the first week of the second semester course), and Year Reviews (assign General Chemistry material during the first two weeks of Physical Chemistry). TRQs provide the instructor with a technological bridge that can create spans of essential knowledge between the chemistry courses in a university curriculum.


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