Updated article originally published April 12, 2021.
Pop quizzes may be a stereotype of high school television shows, but many educators love using them as an assessment tool for their students. Their main purpose is to identify which students understand the subject matter and where others may be falling behind.
Despite this assessment’s utility, some educators worry that the pop quiz is too stress-inducing to be helpful. In addition to worrying even the best-performing students, they can be highly disadvantageous to students with learning challenges or disabilities. Their efficacy becomes even more complicated with many students now opting for online learning.
This article examines whether students’ knowledge, understanding, and exam grades can be positively or negatively affected by pop quizzes. We’ll then demonstrate how to implement them successfully if you choose to use this type of evaluation in your classroom.
The Efficacy of Pop Quizzes
Several studies have sought to examine how effective pop quizzes are in both a secondary and post-secondary learning environment. One study of University of Saskatchewan undergrads found that anonymous pop quizzes, administered as a multiple-choice test, effectively identified problem areas that required additional study. They also helped boost class attendance.
However, another study of undergraduate medical students found that students given pop quizzes performed poorly on exams, especially when quizzed frequently. Pop quizzes may also prove difficult for students who struggle with test anxiety. The spontaneous nature of these quizzes is an added stressor and may result in students not performing as well.
Disability advocates also emphasize the importance of accommodations for students with learning challenges. However, accommodation can lead to classmates waiting for their peers to complete the quiz, or students needing accommodation leaving the classroom to take the quiz elsewhere. Both experiences expose students to undue attention and stress.
Pop Quiz Alternatives for Online Learning
Now that many students and teachers are doing remote exams and assignments, it may be time to rethink how we approach pop quizzes.
Instead of administering traditional pop quizzes, educators can take those principles and apply them to other forms of assessment. For example, instructors can:
- Provide a list of quizzes on their online learning platform and give instructions to students to complete one every week on their own time.
- Use the types of questions they would ask on a pop quiz to spark a group conversation following the lesson.
- Ask students to make up their questions based on the material they just learned and trade them with a partner.
- Schedule one-on-one discussions with students and ask them questions about the lesson in person.
- Administer an open-book exam instead, giving students the chance to demonstrate their knowledge without putting them under pressure.
Rethinking Pop Quizzes for Remote Learning
Remote education provides an excellent opportunity to examine how and why we assess students’ learning and employ some of the assessment methods mentioned above. If a pop quiz is a critical piece of an instructor’s teaching strategy, it may be worth considering a quiz that counts only for learning or as a participation grade and not towards the student’s final grade. This way, the quiz serves its original purpose—to reveal gaps in understanding—without penalizing students.
Ungraded pop quizzes can play a role in better final exam results. A student’s memory recall from the quizzes is more reliable when the anxiety-inducing aspect of it being graded is eliminated.
Find More Remote Education Resources at Crowdmark
Remote learning has become a more accessible option for both teachers and students. We’ve been working hard to support educators through our easy-to-use grading platform and educational resources.
To find out more about how Crowdmark can work for you and learn the platform’s basics, including how to grade a test or assignment like a pop quiz, get in touch with us to start a free trial today.