Recurrent Online Quizzes: Ubiquitous Tools for Promoting Student Presence, Participation and Performance

Introduction In 2014, the majority of undergraduate students are Millennials for whom technology is pervasive in their lives. According to enrollment figures from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), more than 78% of undergraduate students were under 30 years of age in 2011 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). These students, classified as Generation Y or Millennials, have been called "digital natives" (Prensky, 2001) and have been said to be "defined by their technology use" (Krigman, 2010). Besides this influx of technology-savvy students, in some settings, higher education is shifting focus from pedagogy to andragogy and the recognition that needs and expectations of adult learners are changing (Werth & Werth, 2011). More effort is being devoted to student engagement and assessment, and outcome-based, student-centered, problem-based and active learning environments that leverage multiple media for learning and assessment are increasingly emphasized (Stasio, 2013). At the same time, in many settings, class sizes are increasing due to budget constraints (Oliff, Palacios, Johnson, & Leachman, 2013), which puts more burden on faculty to implement meaningful learning activities while keeping workload in check. Despite these evolving aspects of higher education, the principles of effective undergraduate education as proposed by Chickering and Gamson (1987) are still relevant; as evidenced by a 2014 search of Google scholar, there is no shortage of scholarly articles that have recently cited or referenced these seven principles that were proposed almost 30 years ago. These principles assert positive and successful learning environments should provide students with opportunities for active learning and prompt feedback while promoting contact between students and faculty and communication of high expectations, among other qualities. One of Chickering & Gamson's (1987) principles, prompt feedback, is central to the relationship between students and learning. Assessment (feedback) in the classroom is changing from just a grade generator to a meaningful tool for learning and evaluation (Dochy & McDowell, 1997). There are many different types of assessments an instructor can use in the classroom to both engage the learner and evaluate learning and retention. There are differing levels of interaction with the instructor and the material that should be recognized. First, a student must be present in the course to be assessed and to receive constructive immediate feedback. Next, a student must participate in the activity or assessment, and may receive, as a result, "clues" regarding the importance of content or concepts. Finally, a student's performance on an assessment activity can help demonstrate - to both the student and the instructor - if and to what extent the student is learning the content, and may identify gaps in learning to target for further study. We propose a simple process that accomplishes multiple objectives for both students and faculty. Recurrent online quizzes during class time use technology to promote student attendance (presence), encourage student engagement with the content (participation), and also provide immediate, detailed feedback to students on their learning progress (performance). At the same time, these quizzes can be used by faculty to record attendance, measure learning, and quickly identify gaps in learning, even in large classes. All of this is done seamlessly using the university's learning management system (LMS) to facilitate the process and is consistent with a student-centered learning environment while not imposing undue burdens on instructors or students. The purpose of this exploratory study is to begin to evaluate student perceptions of these recurrent quizzes and to promote this process as an efficient and effective way to accomplish multiple goals. We also provide guidance to other instructors wishing to implement this process. …