Abstract:

Computer and web based tests are being extensively used at higher education level for assessment purposes. However, learning instead of only assessment should be the main objective of these tests. An important drawback of using these tests for learning purposes is that it is necessary to generate a large item bank in order the students could practice and obtain feedback about their learning process. This drawback is partially solved by some learning management systems, like Moodle, that offer the possibility to automatically generate numerical variations of a given question. Here, a case study is presented where a comparison of the results obtained by students when they solve tests delivered by a learning management system under different conditions: before and after practicing with similar tests and in a supervised or unsupervised environment. The course in which this study has been developed (Digital Signal Processing for Electrical and Electronics Engineering undergraduate students) is organized in 4 subjects and the students should solve two tests at the end of each subject. One of the two tests consisted in 5 single choice questions and the other test consisted in 5 numerical answer questions (calculated questions). Students that attended to the course were arbitrarily divided in two groups: one of the groups solved the single choice questions test before to practice and solve the calculated questions test; the other group solved the single choice questions tests after practicing and solving the calculated questions test. Additionally, the first group solved the test on the web, during an extended period of time and without instructor supervision. The second group solved the tests during a laboratory session under the instructor supervision (they could consult reference books). For the following course subject, the conditions for the two groups were interchanged in order to avoid any potential advantage for one of the groups. At the end of the process a survey was developed in order to detect students’ tests and procedures preferences. Results of this study will be useful to improve the learning process through web based test in the future.

Keywords:

Web based test, test based learning, feedback.