Beyond hinge questions

How can we help students who are still struggling when most of the class are able to answer the hinge questions? Other than reteaching them in breakout groups in class or after school, we can leverage technology to design online resources that adapts to their individual proficiencies. The following is an example of adaptive testing designed using Google Forms to help students revisit the hinge questions and point them to instructional resources as needed. Try the Google Survey Form and see how you can leverage its affordances for your subject discipline.

Did you notice the embedded pre- and post- knowledge surveys?

Online knowledge surveys are employed to elicit information on student understanding, and the evidence of which is used formatively for course design/redesign. A knowledge survey consists of a set of questions that cover the content of the course, which students answer by responding to a rating scale of their confidence to respond with competence to each question (Bahati, Fors, Hansen, Nouri, &amp; Mukama, 2019). Knowledge survey practices can serve formative assessment purposes by giving students opportunities to self-assess their understanding and learning gaps at key junctures as the course progresses. While a knowledge survey, in and of itself, may be a poor indicator of learning, gains in student self-efficacy were reported when comparing pre- and post-instruction self-assessment surveys (Bowers, Brandon, &amp; Hill, 2005; Clauss &amp; Geedey, 2010). The implication for tech-enabled self-assessment to support all learners is the need to raise student awareness of the different resources they can tap to act on the identified learning gaps, for example, self-study materials, opportunities for peer/teacher dialogue to clarify understanding, etc.</p>

Reference

Bowers, N., Brandon, M., and Hill, C. D. (2005). The use of a knowledge survey as an indicator of student learning in an introductory biology course. Cell Biology Education, 4, 311-322.