Abstract:

The authors of this communication previously evaluated (López et al., 2016) the impact of quizzes at the end of every chapter on the final grades achieved by the students of Physics in the Physics, Mathematics and Electronic Engineering Degrees (Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country). They concluded that frequent formative evaluations of students improved their final grades and showed that students who passed the moodle quizzes got on average higher final marks and increased the probability of passing the exam.

Although the final conclusions of the study remain valid, there are still some issues that must be clarified. First, there was no “control population” of students who were not subjected to Moodle-based testing. We had legally binding limitations in the amount of information regarding the grades of the students during their previous year and, therefore, we could not know the role played by their previous education. Additionally, we had no quantitative information on the affinity of the students with this topic, either.

Therefore, trying to achieve new improvements in students’ grades, we have designed new analyses on the basis of the data collected during academic years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. In the former case (2015-2016), the students followed the same methodology and evaluation system that were covered by López et al. (2016). On the latter (2016-2017), the Moodle-based quizzes were not mandatory. The students were freely allowed to perform and submit the quizzes, which were evaluated as a guide to their performance. Regardless of their option, quizzes did not have any weight/impact at all in the students’ final mark. The working hypothesis is that students that are either more mature or more keen on Physics are the ones that will complete the Moodle quizzes. This should allow us to evaluate the impact of these new variables (maturity or willingness to study Physics) which were not analyzed in our previous study. Therefore, an assessment of the relationship between students’ grades and their performances in Moodle quizzes is reevaluated, considering that tests are not mandatory (2016-2017) versus our previous case (2015-2016). In order to assess the students’ willingness to study Physics, some questionnaires have been passed to the students. Moreover, two experiences of Flipped Classroom have been performed and they allowed us to get a qualitative picture of the initial interest by the students in the topic.

The final aim of this strategy has been to identify a baseline (2016-2017) that will allow us to evaluate the results of a Learning Enhancement Project funded by the University that will start the next academic year (2017-2018). Our aim in this project is to complement our teaching activities with small experiments that will be performed during the lectures, in order to clarify key concepts and increase students’ motivation towards the subject.

Acknowledgments:
Funded by Vicerrectorado de Innovación, Compromiso Social y Acción Cultural of the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU through SAE/HELAZ (Grant n. 10, 2017-2018).

References:
[1] López, G. A., J. Sáenz, A. Leonardo, I. G. Gurtubay (2016) Use of the Moodle platform to promote an ongoing learning when lecturing General Physics in the Physics, Mathematics and Electronic Engineering programmes at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), J. Sci. Educ. Technol. 25:575-589, doi: 10.1007/s10956-016-9614-8

Keywords:

Moodle, formative evaluation, physics, assessment of performance.