Helps students retain course content and lowers stress
The Ontarion sat down to speak with social psychologist and U of G professor, Saba Safdar, who has implemented a new testing method for her midterms and finals. Safdar first found out about this new technique from a colleague in the family relations department who was using it as a tool during lecture.
“When I decided to use it, I thought it would be a very good way of providing alternative methods to regular multiple-choice exams,” Safdar said. “I wanted to see how students liked it and how it would work out. In the last three semesters I have used it, it consistently received [positive] feedback from students.”
Mike and Beth Epstein created the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT). The pair became frustrated with the traditional multiple-choice testing system and the fact that once you leave the testing room, you have no idea which answers are correct and which ones are wrong, according to the Epstein Educational Enterprises (EEE) website.
The IF-AT looks and works sort of like a lottery ticket, with less colour and risk. It has an opaque film over the four options that you scratch off to reveal the correct answer. If you choose the right answer, a star will indicate that you chose correctly; if you do not, nothing will appear, and then you will scratch each of the four options until revealing the correct answer. The professor who administers the test decides whether the second, third, or fourth choices will receive partial marks, the EEE website reads.
Tristan Kimball, a second-year psychology student at U of G, spoke with The Ontarion about his experience in Safdar’s second-year social psychology course. “It allowed me to figure out what concepts I understood immediately, and I found that to be vital for comprehension,” said Kimball.
Kimball “enjoyed the immediate feedback, not having to wait and stress about what mark [he received] was very helpful.” Kimball also added that “knowing that this type of test could give me partial marks was important for [decreasing my anxiety and stress levels].”
“Overall, this was a very beneficial experience and helped me reduce my stress before, during, and after the exam. While some may argue that this type of testing means you can know less and still get a high mark, in providing me with immediate feedback, I feel I now know the material better than I would have otherwise.”
So why is this method not being used more? Safdar believes “a major aspect of [it not being used] is that it is an expensive method, particularly for large classes. [The IF-AT templates] come from the U.S., and are patented. [The department] cannot reproduce them hence the difficulty, it is not something that all departments can accept in terms of extra expense.” Safdar adds that if the use increases, the cost might come down.
Safdar also mentions that it takes time and some adjustment for the professor to organize the questions onto the template, rather than the traditional multiple-choice scantron that students receive. “The other reason could be that it is a new method of assessment. There are a few studies on [the effectiveness of IF-AT versus other assessment methods], and although they consistently show it is effective, we need more research as the use of it increases over time.”
Only time will tell if the IF-AT method is an effective method of assessment in lowering stress and helping retain course content.
Photo by Laura Vautour