Diapositiva 1

1
GENERATING AND USING MOODLE QUIZZES FOR
MATHEMATICAL TOPICS IN ENGINEERING
EDUCATION Mónica Blanco, Marta
Ginovart Department of Applied Mathematics
III Technical University of Catalonia Barcelona,
SPAIN
Abstract. This contribution focuses on the
design, implementation and assessment of a range
of Moodle quiz question pools. From these pools,
we intend to generate quizzes for the compulsory
undergraduate subjects of the applied mathematics
field included in the first- and second-year
syllabus for all branches of Engineering,
following the guidelines of the European Higher
Education Area.

• INTRODUCTION
• In 2002 the Technical University of Catalonia
  (UPC) undertook the use of a virtual teaching
  tool, the campus Atenea, as a first step towards
  the European Higher Education Area.
• Atenea is based on Moodle, an open source
  learning management system, which offers a wide
  variety of tools. One of these tools allows to
  create quizzes with different question types,
  adapted to the specific objectives to be achieved
  at any step in the teaching-learning process. A
  powerful tool for monitoring and diagnosing a
  students understanding of knowledge, Moodle
  quizzes contributes to the development of new
  strategies not practical with paper-based
  testing.
• To explore how to apply these new strategies and
  be able to develop a substantial bank of quiz
  questions, we are carrying out a subsidized
  project by the Institute of Education Sciences of
  the UPC.
• In this framework, this contribution aims to
  display the general purposes and features of this
  project, supported by the discussion of some
  preliminary results.
• This contribution focuses on the design,
  implementation and assessment of a range of
  question pools in a Moodle framework. From these
  pools, we intend to generate quizzes suitable for
  the compulsory undergraduate subjects of the
  applied mathematics field included in the first
  and second year syllabus for all branches of
  Engineering Algebra, Differential Calculus,
  Integral Calculus and Ordinary Differential
  Equations, Analysis of Data and Basic Statistical
  Inference.
• The aims are
• To elaborate teaching material to supplement
  traditional face-to-face courses, namely, Moodle
  quizzes, to be adapted to every level of the
  teaching-learning process and to the specific
  scope of the subjects involved.
• To use the created quizzes to promote a more
  effective, dynamic and autonomous learning.
• To change teachers and students attitude
  towards the virtual campus Atenea, stressing its
  dynamic, interactive role in the
  teaching-learning process, far beyond its role as
  static course material manager.

METHODOLOGY Moodle quiz questions can be of
different types.
Different types of questions can be mixed on the
same quiz, chosen manually or at random,
displayed in a set order or a random order. Quiz
questions can be organized into categories, which
can be afterwards combined into larger groups.
Question pools can be reused in multiple quizzes,
shared between classes, and moved between
systems, hence showing great versatility.
Moodles quizzes module supplies a large number
of options, thus making it an extremely flexible
tool. All the editing options can be considered
as transforming a quiz into a learning tool.
Since assessment is one of the most important
activities in education, feedback on performance
plays a relevant role in the teaching-learning
process. Teachers can decide whether to show
feedback after answering, and if so, whether to
show correct answers or not, allowing review or
not. They can set the quiz for a limited time,
determine the number of attempts allowed and
whether each attempt builds in the last. Getting
quick feedback after having taken a quiz is a
useful tool for students to evaluate their own
activity and help them become more successful,
since they can analyze their own thinking and
begin to understand why an answer is correct.
Involving frequent, low-stakes assessments to
guide their performance during the course of the
semester provides a very flexible system for
evaluating performance, keeps students engaged in
the class, and may reduce in the way anxiety
before infrequent, high-stakes tests.
We intend to explore how to apply effective
question-design strategies to supervise students
progress at different levels of the learning
process, articulated in specified learning
outcomes and skills knowledge, comprehension,
application, analysis, problem solving.
SOME PRELIMINARY RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A
preparatory experience was run last year
(2007/2008), involving the design, implementation
and assessment of three Moodle quizzes for
Statistics, a compulsory subject taught at the
School of Agricultural Engineering of Barcelona
(ESAB) of the UPC. We created the quizzes to be
used as a chapter checking after the
accomplishment of each unit of content, hence
involving self-assessment. From this first round
experience we are now aware of all the data
available for the teacher. By the end of the
semester our students were asked to rate this
activity. Not only did the student ratings turn
out to be rather satisfactory, but student
performance also showed a positive tendency.
We believe that creating and implementing Moodle
quizzes will serve to boost effectiveness and
promote student performance, as well as change
teachers and students attitude towards virtual
campus Atenea, as promoting interactive and
dynamic tools. However, it is essential to bear
in mind that all the process should be
permanently revised and updated. In this sense it
was worth carrying out the preliminary experience
described above, since it provided insights of
the whole process.

• WORK IN PROGRESS
• Some items to be answered at the end of the
  project, when the analysis of the all data
  achieve have been performed
• Students opinion about the use of the different
  kind of quizzes in their own learning process.
• Correlation between the scores of the quizzes
  and traditional or classical examinations.
• Psychometric analysis, to check the difficulty
  level and the effectiveness in discriminating
  learners (or good-bad performers) of the quizzes
  involved.

Acknowledgements. The financial support of the
Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) of the
Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) is
gratefully acknowledged.

• REFERENCES
• Blanco M. Ginovart M. (2008). La probabilidad
  y la utilización de la plataforma virtual Moodle
  en las enseñanzas técnicas dentro del marco del
  Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior. Libro de
  actas del XVI CUIEET. Universidad de Cádiz,
  Spain.
• Cole J. (2005). Using Moodle. Teaching with the
  popular open source course management system.
  Sebastopol (CA) OReilly Community Press.
• Heck A. van Gastel L. (2006). Mathematics on
  the threshold. International Journal of
  Mathematical Education in Science and Technology,
  37(8), 925-945.
• Moodle For Teachers, Trainers And
  Administrators. GNU General Public License
  Version 2, June 1991 http//moodle.org/
• Smith G. H., Wood L. N., Coupland M., Stephenson
  B., Crawford K. Ball G. (1996). Constructing
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