Answer-Until-Correct Assessment Improves Learning in a College Classroom Arrangement Designed to Capitalize on Test-Enhanced Learning
Abstract
I designed this study to evaluate the combination of two empirically supported educational practices for enhancing student learning: frequent assessments requiring information retrieval to capitalize on test-enhanced learning and answer-until-correct (AUC) assessments that provide immediate corrective test-item feedback. College students completed weekly multiple-choice quizzes that were administered and scored by a learning management system (LMS) or administered by the LMS but scored using a form designed for AUC assessment. Using a comprehensive evaluation that included items from each weekly quiz, I examined learning at the end of the semester as a function of the feedback conditions in place when the original unit quiz was administered. For items that had been answered incorrectly on the weekly quizzes, there was a statistically significant difference between conditions; the AUC condition yielded higher mean scores on the end-of semester evaluation than did the LMS condition. These results support the conclusion that, within an educational environment designed to promote retrieval practice, AUC assessment produces better learning than a typical testing arrangement that has become common with the use of LMSs. I will describe some pros and cons of implementing AUC arrangements in college classrooms as well as additional on-going research in this area.
Location
Room 1220
Recommended Citation
Serdikof, Sherry L., "Answer-Until-Correct Assessment Improves Learning in a College Classroom Arrangement Designed to Capitalize on Test-Enhanced Learning" (2014). SoTL Commons Conference. 54.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2014/54
Answer-Until-Correct Assessment Improves Learning in a College Classroom Arrangement Designed to Capitalize on Test-Enhanced Learning
Room 1220
I designed this study to evaluate the combination of two empirically supported educational practices for enhancing student learning: frequent assessments requiring information retrieval to capitalize on test-enhanced learning and answer-until-correct (AUC) assessments that provide immediate corrective test-item feedback. College students completed weekly multiple-choice quizzes that were administered and scored by a learning management system (LMS) or administered by the LMS but scored using a form designed for AUC assessment. Using a comprehensive evaluation that included items from each weekly quiz, I examined learning at the end of the semester as a function of the feedback conditions in place when the original unit quiz was administered. For items that had been answered incorrectly on the weekly quizzes, there was a statistically significant difference between conditions; the AUC condition yielded higher mean scores on the end-of semester evaluation than did the LMS condition. These results support the conclusion that, within an educational environment designed to promote retrieval practice, AUC assessment produces better learning than a typical testing arrangement that has become common with the use of LMSs. I will describe some pros and cons of implementing AUC arrangements in college classrooms as well as additional on-going research in this area.
