Sustainable learning through formative online assessment

Using quizzes to maintain engagement

Abstract

Due to pressure to deliver more Chartered Accountants, the pass-rate of first-year accounting students had to increase. Students who did not take accounting at school particularly needed extra tuition and support to reach the required standard. Poor success rates could be attributed to insufficient theoretical learning and poor time management characterized by cramming before tests. The intervention that aimed to redress those problems was weekly online quizzes that students could complete in their own time that contained feedback and easily understood explanations. In order to create and sustain an adequate database of suitable questions, the tutors who facilitated additional work sessions and understood the pitfalls in the theory, helped the lecturers to compile the questions and participated in quality control. Quizzes and feedback helped students to pace themselves, understand the terms and prepare for tests. The pass-rate increased from 57 to 75%.