Debra Macfarlane
Posts: 21
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| 28/05/2007 22:20 |
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Hi,
This is Q1. from Steve's original facilitator discussion questions. As moderator for this discussion, I've moved this question to its own thread as it deserves some individual attention!
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Debra Macfarlane
Posts: 21
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| 28/05/2007 22:21 |
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Posted By Maha Bali on 28/05/2007 17:34
Well, the obvious answer is that both in-class and out-of-class engagement are important. Depending on the type of course and which stage the students are at, this can be done using various activities. I think the use of EVS/ARS/PRS/clickers has mostly been done in-class is because of the difficulty of engaging a full class of students all at once (especially large lecture halls), and also (not sure which is the cause and which the effect) that a lot of the software/hardware available for this requires students to be in proximity to each other.
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Alec Wersun
Posts: 7
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| 29/05/2007 10:32 |
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| I would argue that while time on in-class is being cut down for efficiency reasons, its importance is becoming more important as we expect students to more out for themselves out of class. However, at the same time, as class sizes grow, in-class methods become more problematic... |
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Maha Bali
Posts: 8
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| 29/05/2007 12:08 |
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Hello Alec,
Reading your post, I was just thinking that there isn't really much point in getting the students to come to class for a few hours each week if you're not planning to engage them. You might as well carry everything on online, then. Or is that what you were trying to say? |
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Andy Sharp
Posts: 11
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| 29/05/2007 12:46 |
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I feel that there needs to be some kind of structure in the out of class tasks. This can be progressive in terms of releasing students to become more autonomous over time. Providing structured tasks allows you to ask questions in class when asking students to feedback on their preparations, progress etc. Providing a log of sorts can help with the processes of both task structure and reflection.
I feel that in-class time sets the tone for much of the way students relate to each other and the out of class activities. Part of in class time should be about agreeing on expectations and the degree to which the lecturer is able to learn from the student input. |
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Angela Sutherland
Posts: 4
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| 29/05/2007 14:59 |
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The benefits of using Multiple Choice Questions
Well-designed multiple choice questions have traditionally been used for assessment purposes in quizzes, tests and exams and game shows (Who wants to be a Millionaire?) to ‘test’ knowledge and ability to determine the right answer from a range of plausible answers. They are used because they give learners practice in retrieving information from memory, give learners feedback about any misconceptions, help students think through the implication of their answers and repeat core concepts, focusing attention on the most important learning material, thus giving learners a second chance to deepen their learning.
However multiple choice questions are also extremely beneficial if used to specifically stimulate and produce learning. Pre-questions focus the students’ attention toward the queried concepts, thereby stimulating in the students’ mind the importance of this issue before it surfaces in the discussion or presentation. When the issue is finally tackled, students will focus more critically on that issue in producing ‘higher-order information’, rather than just listening to the discussion in a trivial, generic fashion, because students have been made aware at the outset of the important issues for consideration.
Questions are most effective when they are relevant and user friendly to the learner. So questions must be designed specifically to support human learning. Therefore, thinking carefully about your audience when constructing your questionnaire. You will find below, a guide a general checklist which will help you to write meaningful, clear, concise questions that are appropriate in deepening the student learning experience. Questions have a significant impact on concept that is queried, so a question should be created for each important concept.
The research which substantiates this argument is overwhelming. Questions are one of the most powerful tools for building learning environments and promoting successful performance. Questions can produce significant learning and performance benefits, potentially improving learning by 150% or more!
(Thalmeimer, 2003)
General Checklist for Writing Multiple Choice Questions
Research shows that deep and lasting learning is strengthened when students are actively engaged with the concepts they are learning and construct their own understanding (Boyle et al. 2003).
Multiple choice questions are very useful as a learning tool for self-assessment, assessment by staff to monitor progress, and more recently to produce and enhance learning. In order to help you prepare for your presentations using personal response systems (PRS), the following checklist has been devised. Addressing the following questions will promote the quality and overall merit of your presentation.
Overall;
1. Will the wording and meaning of the question be easily understood by all the audience?
2. Are questions short enough to stimulate interest?
Writing Your Questions:
3. Have all unnecessary words been removed from the question set?
4. Have all words that are repeated throughout the answers been removed? (e.g. ‘THE’)
5. Are all critical words in the question highlighted? (e.g. ‘NOT, SHOULD, ONLY’)
Writing the Answers:
6. Is there only one correct answer?
7. Are all answer choices clear, and all ambiguity / misinterpretation removed?
8. Are answer options of similar length and parallel in grammatical structure? (to ensure that the structure is still visually compliant with the rest of the slides)
9. Are all incorrect answers still plausible enough to detract the reader?
10. Do recognisable keywords that appear in the correct answer option also appear in some or all of the distracting answers, to stimulate further thinking?
11. Are extreme words often associated with incorrect answer options avoided? (e.g. ALL, ALWAYS, NEVER)
12. Are vague phrases avoided? (e.g. usually, typically, maybe ….)
13. Is ‘None of the above’ used if an additional distracter is needed?
(Fellenz, 2004)
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Derek Rowntree
Posts: 35
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| 29/05/2007 16:34 |
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Hi Angela, Could you please give us an example or two of the sort of questions you are thinking of when you say: "However multiple choice questions are also extremely beneficial if used to specifically stimulate and produce learning. Pre-questions focus the students’ attention toward the queried concepts, thereby stimulating in the students’ mind the importance of this issue before it surfaces in the discussion or presentation."?
Also, may I add one more question to the Fellenz list (preferably at the top): "Are you sure that your question will really test the learning objective you have in mind (rather than a related but lesser objective whose attainment cannot guarantee attainment of the greater one, e.g. being able to choose among different interpretations of a previously unseen poem rather than being able to produce an interpreation of one's own). |
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