Donnelly, Christina
(2014)
The Use of Case Based Multiple Choice Questions
for Assessing Large Group Teaching: Implications
on Student's Learning.
Irish Journal of Academic Practice, 3 (1).
Article 12.
Abstract
The practice of assessments in third level education is extremely important and a rarely
disputed part of the university curriculum as a method to demonstrate a student’s learning.
However, assessments to test a student’s knowledge and level of understanding are
challenging to apply given recent trends which are showing that student numbers are
increasing, student demographics are wide ranging and resources are being stretched. As a
result of these emerging challenges, lecturers are required to develop a comprehensive
assessment to effectively demonstrate student learning, whilst efficiently managing large
class sizes. One form of assessment which has been used for efficient assessment is multiple
choice questions (MCQs); however this method has been criticised for encouraging surface
learning, in comparison to other methods such as essays or case studies. This research explores the impact of blended assessment methods on student learning. This
study adopts a rigorous three-staged qualitative methodology to capture third level lecturers’
and students’ perception to (1) the level of learning when using MCQs; (2) the level of
learning when blended assessment in the form of case based MCQs are used. The findings
illuminate the positive impact of cased based MCQs as students and lecturers suggest that it
leads to a higher level of learning and deeper information processing over that of MCQs
without case studies. The implications of this research is that this type of assessment contributes to the current
thinking within literature on the use of assessments methods, as well as the blending of
assessment methods to reach a higher level of learning. It further serves to reinforce the belief
that assessments are the greatest influence on students’ learning, and the requirement for both
universities and lecturers to reflect on the best form of assessment to test students’ level of
understanding, whilst also balancing the real challenges of large class size teaching.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Additional Information: |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License |
| Keywords: |
Assessment; Case based; Group; Learning; Multiple choice questions;
Students; Teaching; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Business |
| Item ID: |
5647 |
| Depositing User: |
Christina O'Connor
|
| Date Deposited: |
06 Jan 2015 16:52 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Irish Journal of Academic Practice |
| Publisher: |
Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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