Using PrepQuiz approach to enhance students’ engagement in online flipped classr
Using PrepQuiz approach to enhance students’ engagement in online flipped classroom
Ikedinachi Ogamba
What is the idea?
PrepQuiz is an approach to playful pedagogy that uses online quiz games synchronously in a flipped classroom aimed at motivating students to undertake preparatory study and prior learning. They cover subject-specific knowledge, comprehension, and cognitive reflection tests on key content from the students’ preparatory materials and case studies for each flipped class. Conducting a PrepQuiz early in the classroom session supports retrieval practice, playful learning and provides a fun transition to the main plenary discussion and small group work activities. As a motivation and reward, a congratulatory message to the winner(s) is posted on the VLE (e.g. Moodle) student community page. By motivating students to undertake preparatory study, the PrepQuiz approach help to enhance their learning, engagement and contribution to seminar/workshop discussions and group work.
Why this idea?
Experience and research have shown that many students struggle with undertaking preparatory study prior to attending flipped classrooms (Dooley & Makasis, 2020; Herreid & Schiller, 2013; Tomas et al., 2019). This could be a barrier to active engagement in seminar/workshop activities. More so, online classrooms sometimes give room for some students to hide behind their screens, sometimes with microphones muted and cameras off. Hence, working with other tutors and students, in-session PrepQuiz approach was trialled using online quiz tools (e.g. Kahoot, Metimeter), and the experiences and feedback was used in developing the approach.
The design of in-session PrepQuiz approach with elements of fun and competition motivates students on preparatory study. In-session PrepQuiz also enhances deep learning by spurring critical debates and discussion around answers, and by creating opportunities to clarify concepts and experiment what is learned (Harlow & Peter, 2014; Humrickhouse, 2021). Hence, it could be used in developing and addressing the learning of threshold concepts in a subject matter. Moreover, by engaging students in retrieval practice, PrepQuiz approach supports flipped classroom strategy of achieving knowledge retention and information literacy instruction (Gopalan et al., 2020; Shatto et al., 2017). Therefore, they are effective as formative assessments and for improving assessment literacy and outcomes.
A combination of game-based learning techniques and tests with elements of point scoring and competition in PrepQuiz is very transformative in sustaining students’ interest although some learners may not value the competition. The effectiveness of PrepQuiz is evidenced by the significant improvement in students’ engagement in the quiz exercise and participation in the subsequent classroom activities. This was captured in the students’ feedback in the module evaluation e.g. “I definitely like the Kahoot quiz which is related to our session and it’s a