WebCT Quizzes Changed How I Teach
Barb Krumhardt, Zoology/Genetics Lecturer
Last fall, I attended a WebCT workshop on using the WebCT Quizzing tool and learned about how the quizzing tool could be used for proctored, WebCT-administered quizzes. I also learned that the same questions could be provided to students for self-testing in preparation for the proctored quiz. Immediately, I could see how this tool could improve student learning in my biology classes. I did not want my students to learn all their material by self-testing, but identification of structures, which is essential in introductory biology classes, was a perfect fit for this technology.
Most biologists, when presented with reading over a new topic, will focus first on the pictures before studying the text. Once the pictures are in mind, the text is easier to understand. In freshman biology classes (Bio 201 and 202), students must acquire a basic understanding of most fields of biology. This requires students to learn the structures of many organisms and their functions. Understandably, this requirement makes these courses seem difficult to our students; Supplemental Instruction (students helping other students) is offered every term as a result. Many students report that the reading is too difficult before lecture, but some preparation for lecture prepares students to learn, and this task is well suited to the WebCT Quizzing tool.
I used pictures from the textbook, Biology by Campbell and Grabowski, to make WebCT quizzes. Students were required to identify structures or classify organisms when presented with a picture. The structures included microscopic to macroscopic details, and, in Bio 202, molecules. Deadlines were set so that students took their quizzes before the topics were covered in lecture. I hypothesized that having students learn the material on structures and functions before the lecture would bring them to lecture ready to learn more. Students' expressions during my lectures seemed to indicate more understanding. I kept this in mind as I prepared their exams, using the same learning objectives as before; I wrote no simple identification questions, but focused instead on the functions of structures, assuming the students knew the structures from preparation for WebCT quizzes. As this change surely increased the difficulty of the exam, I expected exam score means to go down as a result. However, the opposite has proven true; student exam means in Bio 202 increased about 4 percent, even after I made my exams harder! I have not changed anything else significantly in this class, so I conclude the use of properly timed WebCT quizzes helped students to achieve specified learning objectives more proficiently.
I surveyed the students for their opinions on WebCT quizzes; these demonstrated that the students felt they were valuable. Seventy-eight percent of the students agreed "WebCT quizzes helped with preparation for lecture exams." Of students taking the complementary lab course, 78% agreed "WebCT quizzes helped with preparation for laboratory." Fully 92% of all students agreed, "WebCT quizzes should be used for future classes."
This experience has convinced me that WebCT quizzes could be valuable in many classes. Students cannot begin to use their knowledge in meaningful ways – thinking critically, solving problems, analyzing – without basic background knowledge. All classes include some background knowledge. In biology, such knowledge includes naming structures; it will differ in other fields. It was liberating to give this job to WebCT, leaving me with more time to explain complex concepts in lecture. Most importantly, the students are learning more.
Consider learning about WebCT quizzes and how they might help your students come to lecture with the basics already in mind. Preparing these quizzes was time-consuming, but with the help of a LASCAC grant, it really made a big difference in how much and how well my students learn in my biology classes.
