Eight Reasons to Love Online Quizzes
Even as far back as medieval times, two of the scariest words strung together were pop and quiz. For adult learners and instructors, however, the benefits are easier to see. And it’s less fraught with anxiety when a quiz is expected rather than popped. In fact, you can find plenty of academic research, conducted by people who likely loved tests in school, pointing to the effectiveness of online quizzes. Scientific American reports that “testing, done right, can be an effective way to learn.”
Benefits for Learners and Instructors
- Online quizzes keep learners focused: Who wouldn’t have been less frazzled by Algebra II if there hadn’t been quizzes? However, who among us learned a lot more because of them? Even when there’s nothing at stake like a credential or certification, there’s a sense of pride in doing well on a twenty-question quiz.
- Instant response: Learners don’t have to wait for an email to see what questions they missed. They can get immediate feedback. Also, depending on the testing platform, they may be allowed to immediately take the quiz again to improve their grade.
- Improved retention: Taking an end-of-class quiz is another way to make sure the information sticks in the learner’s head.
- Better atmosphere: Because learners can take an online exam practically anytime and anywhere, they are more likely to be comfortable, under less pressure, and more likely to perform well on the test.
- Incentivizing the learner: Students are more focused on learning and passing the final test if their credit, credentials, or certificates depend on it.
- Cost savings: For instructors, at a minimum, online quizzes are an asset because there are no printing costs to worry about. No expensive toner. No desperate minutes trying to get the copier unjammed.
- Instructional improvement: For instructors, consistently poor test results—overall and on specific questions—can indicate a gap in the content, or the ways instruction is delivered. Instructors can quickly adjust.
- Automated grading: Right/wrong answers and minimum passing scores are programed into the quiz setup. Instructors don’t have to grade online tests manually, which gives them, and students, immediate feedback.
Explore your options
Learning Stream provides a simple, effective online quiz feature that allows program administrators to create a bank of quiz questions that can randomly populate a test with different questions each time. Interested in learning more? Please reach out here. We’d love to learn more about your program.