#IMMOOC Week 3: Why Do I Quiz?

The prompt for this week in the IMMOOC is

What is one thing that you used to do in education that you no longer do or believe in? Why the change?

When I read this prompt, the practice of mine that has changed the most and continues to evolve, my use of quizzes in the classroom. Forgive me if you've read me talk about this before.  But, it is a process that keeps evolving.

As I began my student teaching and over my first decade of teaching, quizzes looked the same in my classes. There was a warning ahead of time for students.  Students were expected to study for the quiz. The quiz was a sheet of paper that had 1 or 2 sides of questions. Students would complete the quizzes in a silent environment with no interaction with other learners in the classroom. If they did not know the answer, they should make their best guess. I would take the quizzes home and return them the next day after putting scores into the grade book.

 I've always been told that quizzes are formative assessments. Looking back on my practice of quiz administration, I don't understand how this is really formative. The ultimate goal from my end was to put a grade in the grade book.  The ultimate feedback for students was a grade. 

Over the past 5 years, I've changed my practice of quizzing in terms reevaluating the purpose and how to make the experience more valuable as learning and for learning. The first step was removing the grading component as the primary feedback. Quiz results never appear in the grade book. I think this helps shift the focus away from a number, percent, or a letter that would appear on the top of that sheet of paper.  The feedback is now focused on what the student was able to do and not able to do.

To step back a moment, let me talk about the format of quizzes in my classroom. Gone is the sheet of paper that is completed and turned in. Now, students work through a series of questions digitally via a tool called Pear Deck. Students work through questions at their own pace. As a teacher, I am able to view what question each student is on and all of their responses in real time.

Students are encouraged to use the quiz as a learning opportunity. What does this mean? When students run into a problems that they don't know how to complete, they need to look up how to complete the problem in their notes or consult a neighbor for help. So rather than the quiz showcasing what is and isn't known, it is an opportunity to engage in closing those gaps on the spot. A quiz is no longer a silent exercise. I am able to assess the conversations I hear and the problem solving going on. 

At the end of a quiz, we will walk through the questions together and students are responsible for rating their own abilities. Instead of recording a grade or a percentage, students complete a reflection on their performance. The questions may change in each reflection but they focus on the following:

• what you were able to do correctly without assistance on the quiz
• what you needed assistance to do correctly on quiz
• how you got assistance during quiz
• what you still don't understand
• what you need to help close your understanding gaps.

That last question gets to where I really want to take quiz this school year.  I want them to become a guide to action. Once students know what assistance they need, it is my job to help make those opportunities available or co-design them with the student. The quiz becomes a diagnostic tool rather than a graded activity. 

When I began teaching, I used quizzes so I could assess what students knew and report it out. Quizzes now are an opportunity to learn and reflect. In their next iteration, they will become a tool to help determine next steps in learning. 

This leads me to think of all the practices that I inherited and of all the things that I used to do that I don't do no more.  Is it best for learning or just the way I learned to do it. Does the task drive completion or does it drive the process learning.