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Martin Cápay et al.
test is submitted, the student’s answers are displayed together with the correct ones which serve as a
feedback for the student.
Another advantage of this type of quiz questions is the possibility to create interactive tests that
include various types of tasks. Test containing such type of questions is not limited to selecting one
correct answer or filling in the correct word(s) because it is possible to create combinations of tasks in
the form of simulations that are solved by the students. We can insert such flash application among
other quiz questions and combine them according to our needs.
Great advantage of this type of testing is the fact that it eliminates former imperfection of the system –
to estimate if the student “only” made a slip – now it points to the process of tackling the task (whether
it is correct or not). From this point of view the interactive tasks give the students the same
opportunity of communication and correction as if he/she were in direct contact with the teacher.
4.1 Didactic effectiveness of interactive animations
The experimental verification of didactic effectiveness as well as the pedagogical and psychological
research indicate that the effectiveness of perception and retention is directly commensurable to the
number of sensors that are activated during the learning process.
According to Lindstrom (1994) the interactivity brings in the ability to remember the information as
follows - when people:
See (20%),
See and hear (40%),
See, hear and can intervene into the action (75%).
Interactive animations, according to the above mentioned definition, do not only function as means of
sense-perception but also as means of cognitive perception as they point to and at the same time
break into the objects’ fundamentals. Furthermore, this continuous increase of the visuality enables
the students to lively look at and understand the basic principles. This is very important especially in
the abstract thinking since the student not only develops his/her concepts but constructs the
fundamentals of logical thinking as well.
Identification of the degree of didactic effectiveness of innovated study materials (i.e. its increase or
decrease) is a relatively problematic step that depends on particular implementation of designed
educational tool into the educational process. The reason is that the question of its function or
effectiveness is always answered in the same way: its function is to support the development of
cognitive and intellectual abilities of the student, i.e. to teach something new. This answer is based
mainly on the proven claim - the more diverse methods of learning, the better retention of information
(Mayer 1997, Hvorecký et al. 2010). It is possible to verify the didactic effectiveness of interactive
animation usage by means of didactic tests in which the expected outcome of educational process is
detected by written exam. The student answers a specific question or solves a particular task and
there is usually only one correct answer. There is a possibility of more correct answers – in this case
the student has to be informed in advance. The following task is an example of electronic interactive
didactic test from the Computer Architecture subject (Figure 4).
4.2 Verification of didactic effectiveness of interactive e-testing
In order to correctly verify the didactic effectiveness of a created interactive question, it was
necessary to carry out a research for which we chose the test method – the students were given the
tests in various forms (electronic and printed). Consequently we compared the results of particular
groups of students. There were two research groups:
Experimental group - the group of students that used the study materials with implemented
interactive animations and interactive problem tasks during their study,
Control group - the students who studied from the materials in the form of PDF files without any
interactivity implemented.
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