Assignment and question types for EDU
I found the EDU system to be flexible and easy to use. I used it for mastery based multiple-choice questions, but one can use it for other extensions as well, such as homework or exams. When I first set up questions, it took a while to enter in all of the questions and write feedback to be given for wrong answers. I also was saving time by not grading the exercises. That being said, it was fairly simple to set up and it does not require much time to maintain.
On the EDU home page, there is an instructor login section for my use when I want to check student history, enter questions, or make any changes. There is also an option to register for the class or select an assignment for students. After making those choices, students will be prompted to log on.
After I registered and logged in, I built a questions bank. There is a question bank editor that allows you to enter in questions for your course. I typed mine in manually, but instructors can format questions to be uploaded. As instructors enter questions, questions are assigned locations within a hierarchical structure so that each question has a label and a question description within a topic, and each topic is within a question bank. Each question instructors enter will also have a question type.
After instructors enter their questions, they can decide how they would like them to be presented. In setting up an assignment or exam, instructors can set a time period when it can be available to students (starting and ending times and dates). I decided not to use the time limit option. Instructors also set up how many times students can take to complete an assignment and how long they have to do so. I allow students to answer the questions as many times as they would like. I also set up the option for students to get feedback about wrong answers right after they have submitted a wrong answer. This allows me to scaffold students to better understand the material to answer a similar question correctly next time. Instructors can also give explanations for correct answers, as well. There is also an option for students to get feedback after the assignment is completed if the instructor wants to set up assignments to be more like a quiz or exam. Instructors then decide if they want a set order or random. I set my questions as random for each assignment. This is also an option to set up if instructors want the same questions asked each time the quiz is presented, or whether questions are chosen randomly from a pool of questions. I set my questions as random drawing from my question bank. Since I am using the mastery-learning mode, I also set up how many questions students need to answer correctly for each topic. Instructors can also determine sections within an assignment for students to complete which can be used in a hierarchical manner. I decided to set up hierarchy for some assignments and not for others, depending on if there were any particular knowledge hierarchy in the relationships of the questions. For example, I set up hierarchies for questions in assignment Topic 2: Personalities and Abilities. This assignment includes questions on both the nature of personality and the big five model of personality. Because I would like students to understand the nature of personality before answering questions on big five, I set up a hierarchy so that they needed to complete a number of questions on "the nature of personality" before they answered any question about the "big five model of personality.” For some other assignments, I didn't set up hierarchy if I didn't see any particular reason to do so. Finally, instructors set up the number of points to be assigned to each question if the question is answered correctly.| << Background | ^TOP^ | Student Performance >> |
