Online Quiz and Test Taking as an Alternative
to Paper and Pencil Assessment Katherine
McNeil
Many teachers find they are just stretched
to the limit every day. When you find a student that is struggling
or are told
that you have to modify
the delivery of the curriculum because of Special Ed issues where do you
start?
I have found that if teachers (including myself) design a lesson and the
delivery is identical to all students, we have left 1/3 to a 1/2 of our
students fall into the cracks. Some students will quietly pretend they
understand, some will seek our help, some under perform, and some will
start demonstrating inappropriate behaviors to deal with their frustration.
I would like to suggest one small modification that
a teacher could do to help students succeed when
required to take a quiz or test. Many students
have problems with auditory processing or just plain hate paper and
pencil tests. If students have access to a classroom or
school computer it is
easy to put your quizzes online, have the students take the quiz, and
the results are e-mailed back to you.
There is a wonderful site where all this and more
can be accomplished and my students use it for
every test they take. The result of allowing my
students take their tests online has been dramatic. Their test scores
have risen from a D and F average to A's and B's.
Now remember my students are
not the norm, they are student with severe behavior disorders, but
I
have made this suggestion to other teachers and
they have seen similar results.
Ok, so how can you try this? Well the site is called Funbrain.
It is simple, you register (it is free), you have your choice of using
a test that other teachers have designed or you can enter your own.
This is nice because the test stays online unless you delete it. You
can use
it from year to year if you want. The only suggestion that I make when
you make or modify the tests or quizzes is that there is a box where
you can let the students see if their answer was incorrect or do not
allow
them to see. I don't allow them to know because I found it creates
problems.
When you register you have the options of setting
a class password or not. Have each student sign
in with their first and last name, tell them which
test or quiz they are to take, and the rest is downhill. You can access
their scores; tell them specifically which question they missed and
what their answer was. The online grade book keeps track
of their scores.
Allowing students access to a variety of tools for assessment is
essential to their academic success.
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