A teacher's feedback results in a better product

Hein Dubery of Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa Hein Dubery

Further to a letter from Jan Hendrik Dubery, teaching at Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa, the interactive tests in the Mechanisms Module have been modified to include a scoreboard.

Mr Dubery wrote:

"If I let my students do these tests - how will I be able to get their results? I don't want to do the marking, I would like the computer to calculate each student's result after the test so that I can quickly see what they know and what they don't know about the topic so I can teach what they don't know or understand."

See the new tests below and the notes for teachers about how students' scores may be recorded without any tedious marking.

We've produced two versions of an interactive test in the Mechanisms Module. The tests include feedback, scoreboard, total score and "Start Over" buttons. The numbers on the scoreboard are linked to the questions. The tests are:

a multiple choice test which may be used as a start of module test to assess prior knowledge of mechanisms
a test with input fields which may be used as an end of module test to assess the level of new knowledge of mechanisms.

There are 100 questions about mechanisms in the test. The test has been divided into three sections, questions 1-33; 34-70; and 71-100 in order to maintain computer processing speed.

Multiple choice test; start of module test

Only questions 34, 38, 56, 67, 68 and 70 work in this demo animation.

End of module test; test with input fields

Feedback that helps student learning

Each question has feedback, a score and a "Start Over" button. The "Start Over" buttons allow students to restart the test as many times as they like; (in order to answer correctly first time and to build up their scores). The scoreboard enables students and teachers to see exactly which questions were answered correctly and which were answered incorrectly.

Students can have multiple attempts at answering correctly but they will only score if their first answer is the correct answer.

Assessment for Learning

For an assessment for learning approach, use our interactive tests to assess learning at the start of the module; the mechanisms theory notes, animations and exercises to develop mechanisms knowledge; and the end of module test to assess students' level of understanding and learning.