New study questions the value of online quizzes

By Sarah Klein

Whether it's a study tool, a practice test, or a homework assignment, many of today's students are familiar with the online quiz.

Meant to make testing easier and grading more efficient, online quizzes have helped offset large class sizes in universities and colleges. But new research suggests these quizzes may not be as useful as some educators might think.

Researchers from Eastern Washington University in Spokane and University of Twente in the Netherlands teamed up to study the use of online quizzes among students enrolled in an operations management course.

The researchers found that while most students believed the online quizzes to be helpful, they rarely caused the students to adopt better study or learning habits. For example, many online quizzes have built-in time delays to allow students to review a topic before continuing with the test. Instead, most of the students involved in the study merely proceeded to the next question.

The study found that students' grades did not improve when they used online quizzes. And when comparing exams and final grades across various courses, there was no difference between grades of students in courses that used online quizzes and ones that didn't.

"Our conclusion raises questions about the use of online quizzes as an effective course design element to improve student learning," reported the researchers.

These results are in marked contrast to a 2008 study that found online quizzes were generally associated with improved exam scores and student learning, and were a good predictor of overall exam performance.  However, the earlier study's findings included a number of caveats and the researchers acknowledged that different approaches among various instructors may have had a bearing on the results.

The latest study goes some way to reinforcing conventional wisdom – online quizzes can make a contribution to the educational process but students learn best from a range of different activities and assessments, and score highest with high levels of teacher feedback and parental support.