learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Rosario Kane-Iturrioz
Tests very useful as a self-assessment facility to check their progress. A breakdown of students’
perception by year can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1: Students’ perceptions on the usefulness of the progress tests
Statement: I have found the Progress Tests useful to keep
track of how much I have learnt online.
2007-08
(N=13)
2008-09
(N= 31)
2009-10
(N=28)
2010-11 (N=17)
Strongly agree 3 (23.08%) 12 (38.71%) 11 (39.29%) 5 (29.41%)
Agree 10 (76.92%) 15 (48.39%) 15 (53.57%) 10 (58.83%)
Neutral 0 (0.0%) 4 (12.90% 1 (3.57%) 1 (5.88%)
Disagree 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (3.57%) 1 (5.88%)
Strongly disagree 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)
In 2008-09, students were also asked to select which aspect they liked most about the module’s
online provision from a list of ten items. Progress Tests were the students third favourite preference
(63%) after “work at my own pace” and “multiple attempts allowed”. The open question
(questionnaires) and interviews (2008-09) corroborated these results and many students stated that
they “would rather do the Progress Test than the voice mail or discussion”. Others liked this tool
because it “...help(s) us to revise as well as prepare for the face-to-face sessions.” or, “I could see
how I got to learn more really and you could always go back”. Although many students associated the
Progress Test with an improvement in their independent learning skills: “..this experience was good
and I have got a lot of advantage out of it, like self-discipline and time management.”; they also
indicated that they had faced difficulties: “I ran out of time and so my main aim was to learn the topic
material” or “there was nobody pushing me”. In one case the problem was fear of failure “Didn’t do
most of them (Progress Tests) because wasn’t confident enough”.
One of the aims of the Progress Test was to familiarise students with the module’s summative
assessment format. A computer-based test was chosen in order to be consistent with the module’s
main delivery mode. Students were asked about their perceptions regarding the computer-based
summative assessment at two points during the four years of this study, 2008-09 and 2010-11. The
students’ answers indicate a clear change in perceptions in the intervening year. 52% and 74%
respectively “found the computer-based assessment better than the traditional assessment (including
face-to-face oral tests). The breakdown of the results can be seen in Table 2.
Table 2: Students’ perceptions of computer-based assessments
Statement: “I have found the computer-based assessment better
than the traditional assessment (including face-toface
oral tests).
2008-09 (N = 31) 2010-11 (N =19)
Strongly agree 6 (19.35%) 5 (26.31%)
Agree 10 (32.26%) 9 (47.37%)
Neutral 9 (29.03% 3 (15.79%)
Disagree 4 (12.90%) 2 (10.53%)
Strongly disagree 2 (12.90%) 0 (0.0%)
3.3 Students’ perceptions about formative feedback
In 2008-09 and 2010-11, students were asked to select which aspect they preferred most about the
module’s online coursework from a list of ten items. Immediate computer feedback was the 6 th
favourite preference in 2008-09 and the third in 2010-11 after “work at my own pace” and “variety of
activities”. Many students referred to the feedback provided for activities and exercises linking them to
positive effects on enjoyment: “That is the bit I enjoy the most in the module, the whole
interactiveness of it, it made it seem like fun”. Others reflected on the perceived motivational help
provided by the activities feedback (mainly computer-based): “ It feels you being there with me’’. This
statement seems to indicate that a comprehensive feedback is seen by students as an indication of
‘caring behaviour’ on the part of the tutor.
The Progress Test feedback both computer-based and tutor provided was in general perceived as
highly useful (84.62%) and motivating: “What really got me motivated was getting the results straight
back; to have a look through at what the mistakes were so it helps us”. A few students would have
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