Deciding between Quizzes, Surveys, and Self-Assessments
Brightspace offers a variety of formative assessment tools, deciding which one to use is often seen as a challenge. The table below can help you make that decision:
| Quizzes | Surveys | Self-Assessments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feedback for student | Feedback is released based on setup of quiz by instructor, may not be instant. | Feedback is released after completion in the form of a report. | Feedback is instantaneous after answering question. |
| Reporting for student/instructor | Extensive reporting for Instructors – Students can see feedback on scores and particular answers. | Reporting for Instructors – yes, reports are generated, and can be made anonymous. | Reporting for Instructors – yes, but limited to who has taken the SA and for time spent. |
| Use Case 1 | Pre-Assessment – Use the quiz tool to act as a diagnostic before the course begins. Set up release conditions to provide content that students need based on their answers. | Diagnostic – to help gauge student retention midway through topic or at several intervals throughout a course. | Self-Awareness tool – Students can test themselves without the pressure of a graded item. They are allowed to make mistakes. |
| Use Case 2 | Acknowledgement – Use the quiz tool as a form for agreeing to criteria in your course, e.g. “Check here to confirm you won’t cheat.”. | Class Perception – builds a community of learning, as the cohort can see opinions of other students. | Case Studies – Use the power of storytelling to elicit answers to demonstrate new knowledge! |
| Use Case 3 | Course/Instructor Feedback – great for getting feedback on how a course was perceived. | Ask your virtual tutor! – Use self-assessments to bounce ideas off of, and to act as your personal tutor. | |
| Use Case 4 | Pre-Assessment – Inspire students to engage with class material by seeing how much they already know, and convey the course objectives simultaneously. |
Self-Assessments do not allow the student to revisit saved results. If you would like both students and instructors to be able to revisit results, create a quiz that is not attached to a Grade Book item.