"Put your books and notes away. Take out a pencil and paper." I still get sweaty palms when I hear those words so I sympathize with students who dislike quizzes. Quizzes can police rather than foster learning. Additionally, without teaching assistants to manage the paper trail, quizzes can add up to a lot of busy work for the instructor. For the courses I teach in American literature, American Studies, and Women's Studies, the quiz functions in ANGEL allow me to meet my course objectives and the needs of my students more effectively. I primarily use ANGEL quizzes to test reading, discussion and lecture comprehension. By using ANGELas opposed to traditional in-class quiz formatsI increase in-class discussion time, lower the amount of time I spend correcting quizzes and recording grades, reduce students' test anxiety, and increase student satisfaction with how testing functions in my courses.
As there are many ways to use ANGEL quizzes, I will describe briefly how I use them in my courses to achieve the above objectives. The quizzes are "homework," completed outside of class during a set quiz period. The quizzes may only be submitted once; that is, students cannot retake a quiz after submitting their answers. Each quiz remains open in ANGEL for at least six hours on the designated quiz day. For example, my AMST 105 students take weekly quizzes in ANGEL. Students take the quiz (anytime from 3pm to 11pm) on a designated day listed in the syllabus. Because of the options I select while constructing the quiz, students will not know the results until after the quizzing period. If my students take the quiz Monday, on Tuesday morning I access the quiz, review the "Quiz Analysis" report, which summarizes the class responses, and transfer the scores to my EXCEL grade book. I then re-open the quiz to allow students to view their grades and my feedback. If the quiz does not contain short answer questions, which must be graded manually, the post-quizzing process takes less than five minutes. Once you become familiar with ANGEL's quizzing options, writing the quiz should not take much longer than any other format.
Let me point out a couple of other functions that make ANGEL quizzes superior to traditional paper versions. The "Quiz Analysis" allows me to gauge quickly what questions gave the class trouble so I know what material needs to be reinforced in class. Additionally, if a student complains a question was "unfair," the Quiz Analysis helps me judge the complaint's validity. If I retrieve a copy of the Quiz Analysis that shows sixty percent of the class answered the question correctly, I am able to steer our conversation to the source of the student's confusion: whether the problem be with understanding the course material or applying test-taking skills objective exams require, such as reading the entire question rather than selecting the first correct answer.
ANGEL's feedback options also enhance student learning and my teaching effectiveness. Rather than writing the same comment on everyone's quiz or fielding the same question numerous times in office hours, I can type feedback once in ANGEL for the entire class. When students access their quiz, they all know the correct answer to question five can be found on page 256. I can also use the "WhoDunIt Agent" (in the Tools tab) to send an email to all students who did not take the quiz, to students who failed the quiz, and to students who did exceptionally well.
If you decide to use ANGEL quizzes in your course, consider giving students a sample or practice quiz. This allows them to experience the quizzing functions and your testing style without risk. Additionally, I encourage you to adhere to a strict "no make-up quiz" policy, and drop at least one quiz grade. My policy states students who know they will not be able to take a quiz are required to consult with me in person prior to the quiz period. I always make the alternative less attractiveusually an essay exambecause frequently students "suddenly remember" they can, after all, take the on-line quiz. Also, if I know a student could take the quiz if it opened earlier or was left open later, I can make adjustments. Dropping at least one quiz gives leeway to students who do not take a quiz due to an illness, a family death or other unexpected emergency, or who simply forget.
For students who experience test anxiety or who have documented learning disabilities, ANGEL quizzes provide them with a more "relaxed" testing environment providing--them with more time, books and notes, and the ability to chat with classmates while taking the quiz. Sound too easy? In my experience, the students who fail traditional quizzes because they miss class or do not keep up with the reading continue to fail when presented with quizzes in the ANGEL format. I agree students should know Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "The Minister's Black Veil"; however, traditional quizzes that pose these types of questions tend to send students into a flurry of isolated memorization. I would rather see students consulting each other about course material and quiz questions that require a close reading of the text and attentive participation in class discussion and lectures. I would rather pose questions and administer quizzes that foster a learning community.
1. Log into ANGEL (http://cms.psu.edu) and select your course.
2. Select the "Lessons" tab.
3. Select "Add Content."
4. Scroll down. Select "Add a Quiz."
5. Select the "Advanced" button, located along the top of your quiz window. There are two "Settings," the default "Normal" and the "Advanced," which allows you to set options such as how many times students can take the quiz and what information the students will receive upon completion of the quiz. I suggest selecting the "Do not allow incomplete items" under "Validation" in the "Quiz Setting" category. This will prevent students from accidentally submitting their quizzes before finishing the exam. After making your selections, click the "Save" button located at the end of the options.
6. Select "Add Question."
7. You have several options to choose from: various multiple-choice formats, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and essay. Select the question format you need and follow the step-by-step instructions. While writing the quiz you can enter feedback students will receive along with their score, or you may add this feedback later. You may also add "Section Headers," and questions may be rearranged at any point and imported from other locations.
8. When you complete writing your quiz, select "Take the Quiz" to experience what the students will view.
9. Not comfortable experimenting with this tool on your own? ITS offers regular seminars on the quiz functions in ANGEL. Check out the schedule: http://its.psu.edu/training/.