Confidence-weighted Multiple Choice Questions for Formative and Summative Assessment
Grant program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant (TLDG)
Grant recipient: Leanne Ramer, Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology
Project team: Carly Johnston, research assistant
Timeframe: September 2018 to April 2020
Funding: $6000
Courses addressed:
- BPK 426 – Functional Human Neuroanatomy
- BPK 326 – Functional Anatomy
Final report: View Leanne Ramer's Final Report (PDF) >>
Description: I want to find out whether confidence-weighted multiple choice testing can be used formatively and summatively to inform and/or improve student learning in upper level anatomy courses.
Questions addressed:
- Does our form of confidence-weighted multiple choice improve students’ performance?
- Do students perceive a benefit of confidence-weighted multiple choice testing for either their learning or their performance?
- Can confidence-weighted multiple choice testing identify topics on which students are uninformed and/or misinformed to inform the topics covered in review sessions prior to exams?
Knowledge sharing: I plan to share my findings locally at seminars (e.g., Teaching Matters) and more broadly at SoTL Conferences (as well as through a manuscript submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal).
Nearly all universities rely heavily on multiple choice testing, particularly in the sciences. Their use remains contentious, and our findings on a possible improvement on (or unnecessary complication of) multiple choice testing will be of broad interest.
Keywords: Assessment, formative, summative, multiple choice, selected response, confidence weighted.