Sustaining learning through assessment: an evaluation of the value of a weekly class quiz

Commencing each class session with a class quiz, which emphasizes the previous week’s work and is supported by immediate feedback, encourages students to revise their notes ahead of the session, undertake more reading and keep pace with course progression. It reduces the necessity for any spoken review of the previous week’s work, provides guidance on the status of current student learning, and creates a knowledge platform upon which deeper learning may be constructed. When pitched at an accessible level, regular class quizzes are popular with students because they reinforce student engagement with the course and provide immediate positive feedback and reward. In this case study, quiz results correlate significantly with many other forms of assessment, especially those that require immediate individual knowledge such as examinations, learning journals and spoken presentations. They do not correlate so strongly with assessments based on teamwork or deductive exploration such as problem‐based laboratory study or self‐directed field trails. Class quizzes and formal examinations, alone of the assessment strategies compared in this study, are associated with significantly higher marks from female students. It is recommended that the technique is used as part of a diversified assessment strategy.