Poster #20 - The Effects of Formative Assessments on MOOC Students' Performance in Summative Assessments

• In Event: 34.099 - MTCC Poster Session Seven
  In Poster Session: 34.099-3 - Online Teaching and Learning Poster Session

Abstract

This study sought to investigate whether and how, specifically, formative assessments can be leveraged to maximize student performance in summative assessments in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). We analyzed data on formative and summative assessments from a sample of 36 MOOCs. Results indicate that MOOC students who took all formative quizzes generally scored higher than those who took some or none; one to five formative quiz questions affect students’ grades in summative grades more positively than any other number of formative questions; and formative questions with feedback directing students to relevant resources work significantly better than that only indicates the answer is right/wrong and that with longer explanation for each option.

Authors

• Yi Luo, Harvey Mudd College

• Tania Patricia Heap, University of North Texas

• Cheng Li