I won't argue that assessing throughout a course is extremely important. I also think it was great that we were given a chance to self-assess in this manner. Using traditional multiple choice tests as the only form of assessment is a dated approach and, as we have learned in this course, rarely gives an accurate representation of what a student really knows. Thus, it was a useful tool to check on our own to see if we were mastering the skills of a cluster.
I tried two different methods when I took the tests. At first, I was trying to get 100% on both the pre- and posttest. Then I realized, that this method wasn't giving me an accurate representation of what I was really learning. Instead, I began only taking the pretest once and keeping that score. Then on the posttest, I would retake it correcting any errors, so I could accurately understand how the concepts were applied.
The questions themselves were actually interesting. I especially liked when they presented us with possible classroom situations and asked a question relating to the context of the situation. I think I enjoyed the clusters that really focused on learning theories for this reason. The questions tended to be more applicable.
However, the overall experience using the MyLab tests was a very frustrating one. The format was very off-putting. The e-text site that housed the tests would constantly freeze or slow down to a crawl. Loading the test could take upwards of two minutes (it doesn't sound slow, I know, but in a technological world of fast internet and instant web-surfing gratification it was painful). Then the site would freeze as I was submitting my questions, and I would have to refresh the page and answer the questions all over again.Since I was going back through correcting answers, not having the questions numbered also was an inconvenience. It was impossible to keep track of which question I checked my response to and which ones still needed to be reviewed.
I believe it was Laura who pointed out early on that it felt like we were being punished for doing poorly on a pretest. The amount of remedial work that needed to be accomplished to be able to take the posttest was sometimes unreal. Six learning outcomes with two activities each quickly began to make the tests seem no longer practical (see below).
I think it would have been more appropriate to offer the outcomes and adjacent readings, but not make them mandatory. Having the outcomes available would have provided me enough guidance when reading that I would have been able to focus my studies.
All in all, I think the concept of pre- and posttests for self-assessment is a great idea. I blame MyLab for my negative experience with them. A link to a table of my results is available here.
I completely agree with your opinion on the multiple choice test. I found myself trying to locate the best answer and not focusing on the material being studied. It became a project to figure out the correct answer. I also did not feel the pretest activities that we had to accomplish was a good learning tool because it felt like we were being punished for not knowing the material we had not read about yet. It was an interesting experience taking so many multiple choice tests. It allowed me to realize the benefit of them but also the negative side because it does not foster critical thinking.
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