In-Class Versus At-Home Quizzes: Which is Better? A Flipped Learning Study in a Two-Site Synchronously Broadcast Organic Chemistry Course

We recently shared our design of a two-semester flipped organic chemistry course in which we gave students in-class quizzes to incentivize attendance and watching the lecture videos in advance. With a second iteration, we planned to make the video-watching experience more engaging. We accordingly hy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of chemical education Vol. 94; no. 2; pp. 157 - 163
Main Authors Christiansen, Michael A, Lambert, Alyssia M, Nadelson, Louis S, Dupree, Kami M, Kingsford, Trish A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 14.02.2017
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
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Summary:We recently shared our design of a two-semester flipped organic chemistry course in which we gave students in-class quizzes to incentivize attendance and watching the lecture videos in advance. With a second iteration, we planned to make the video-watching experience more engaging. We accordingly hypothesized that if students completed short at-home quizzes while watching the videos, then attentiveness, engagement, and learning would increase. We tested this with a later section of the course, dividing the material into 13 units. For units 1–6, we gave in-class quizzes; for 7–13, quizzes were at home. Although units 1–6 and 7–13 covered different material, we were nonetheless surprised when students’ average quiz scores decreased for the take-home quizzes because they did not have a time limit and were open-book, unlike the in-class quizzes. Anonymous survey feedback showed a strong preference for quizzes in class and indications that take-home quizzes demotivated attendance and preclass watching of the videos. Thus, for analogous flipped-course designs in chemistry, we recommend an in-class quizzing strategy over take-home quizzes to positively affect engagement, learning, and attendance. Of note, this course was synchronously delivered to two groups of students at geographically distinct satellite locations.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00370