Activity Title:  

 ‘Hot Potatoes’ Formative Assessments

We wanted to find a way that the students could test themselves in a fun and non-intimidating way. The aim was to give the students confidence in their note-taking skills (see related database entry), and also let the students monitor their own progress without the assessment being formal (like an essay or an exam). Therefore a WebCT gateway was developed with ‘Hot Potatoes’ Multiple Choice Questions as a key part of the format.

Students learn in different ways. On the Trinity Access Programme we designed a WebCT ‘gateway’ for the course which enabled us to introduce more formative assessments with a range of ‘Hot Potatoes’, MCQ exercises. These were ten questions based on the guest lectures and the students could test themselves, find out how many they got right straightaway, and then keep re-taking it until satisfied with the results. The students found this an innovative way of testing themselves and began to excel when they realised that the only person they had to impress was themselves. This made them more confident when dealing with more formal, summative assessments. The students were encouraged to find the note-taking style which suited them best, and to listening and engaging with what was being said rather than trying to get every word recorded. The exercises tested the important themes and issues, not simply facts.