Quizzes Can Be Used for Learning!

One of the most interesting (and easy) strategies for helping students learn that I’ve encountered recently centers around quizzing. Yes, quizzing, the thing students dread to take and teachers dread to correct. However, much of the negative feelings around quizzes and tests is caused by how they’re commonly weighted in higher education. It’s often the case that doing poorly on a quiz or test will sink a student for the whole semester. However, there is a RESEARCH-based strategy on how to use quizzes and tests that not only achieves better learning outcomes but also helps with fostering a less anxious atmosphere with students. The strategy is called Frequent, Low-Stakes (FLS) Grading, and you can read up on it in much greater depth here at this Faculty Focus article. As you can see, you don’t need to take my word for it (and I know I dated myself with that Reading Rainbow reference).

Where this blog post comes in is how ITG can help you achieve this strategy. Within Canvas, quizzes and tests can be created to auto-correct students’ work, providing almost immediate feedback that adult learners do so well with, and can also feed directly into your Gradebook. Furthermore, it’s possible to use this technology in a non-graded way to check for understanding and to assess where your students might have gaps in, say, previous knowledge or after completing a dense reading assignment. Another great use of non-graded quizzes is to use them as practice for a more heavily weighted exam later in the semester. If you want to talk more about how to implement FLS grading in your course, give ITG a call at 617-824-8090 or send us an email at itg@emerson.edu. We’d love to sit down and help you implement your ideas!