Quiz Re-Takes Really Work!

I never thought I would ever give a student a quiz re-take.  I was vehemently opposed to the idea.  I mean come on how many chances should we give students?  I thought that if I let them re-take a quiz it would set a precedent and I would have students re-taking every quiz.

Then I started to think about it and I started to do some research.  I was very skeptical, but as I read I started to change my mind.  Here's why.

Why not give students a second or third or forth chance?  Isn't our goal as a teacher to help students learn.  Why do we only reward them if they get it right the first time?  This is what I figured, if a student bombs a quiz or makes a mistake they should learn from those mistakes and find a way to improve.  Isn't that what life is about?  Where else in your life do you not get a second chance?  Yes, I know...when flying a plane...when performing surgery...when driving a car, etc.  Yes, there are certain events that you can't live and learn but I believe that in the classroom students should be able to live and learn as often as they need.

My goal, by the end of the year, is to teach my students as much chemistry as I can.  My students' job is to learn as much chemistry by the end of the year.  

Anyway, this year I figured I would try it out.  I am a scientist at heart and I wanted to collect my own data to see if quiz re-takes would have an effect.

Here's How I did it.

First, I established some guidelines.

1.  Students may re-take a quiz as many times as they like as long as it is re-taken before a unit test.  My test, for now, are final.  There are no test re-takes.  So a student can re-take a quiz on nomenclature 20 times until the day of the nomenclature test.

2.  Students must complete a quiz re-take form.  This form is on my Moodle page and it is designed to help the student reflect on the quiz.  In the past, students would throw away bad quizzes without giving them a second thought.  Now, they have to think about what they did poorly and then tell me what they plan to do to improve.  I really like this part!  I believe it is the most important part.  Here are some images of my quiz re-take form:

3.  Students must complete a remediation assignment based on the topics that gave them trouble.  I do not create these assignments.  Students can use the textbook or internet to create their own problem sets.  I want the students to create this.  I told them it doesn't have to be from the book and if they had another idea that I would be willing to listen.  Most students use the book or pull worksheets from the internet.  The only catch is they cannot use problems that I have already assigned.  It has to be something new!  I think this is great because students learn that when they don't understand something they can find information and resources to help them get better.  I have students going to the internet and working out problems on their own!

4.  The last grade stands.  I don't give them the higher of the two grades or the average.  I give them the last grade.  I love this for a number of reasons.  First, it deters some students from trying to go from 98% to 100%.  Second, it reflects what they currently know and that is what I am testing.  So what if last week you got an 80%.  Today you only know 73%.

Final Thoughts

In the beginning, I was nervous because I thought I would need to write 5-10 versions of each quiz.  Since the beginning of the year, I have only had two students re-take a quiz more than one time.  I write three versions of the quiz.  The questions are roughly the same.  I change some of the numbers and sometimes I change the question as long as it covers the same objective/target.

I was afraid that quiz re-takes would dominant my life this year.  I have been fairly organized.  I have a quiz folder for honors and AP chemistry and quiz answer key folder.  For each unit, I place the quizzes and keys in the folder and I am ready to go.  Note, I give students at minimum one quiz a week.

Grading has not been a nightmare.  My quizzes are short...around 10-15 points each.  They are very quick to grade.  What I have been doing this year is I place answers keys around the room during the quiz along with a colored pencil.  I let the students check their own quizzes before turning them in.  I encourage them to write notes to themselves and to make corrections as long as they use my colored pencil.  They know the consequences if I find them with their own pencil or pen at the quiz station.  My students love the instant feedback.  I still grade each quiz but their corrections make easier to grade.

Overall, I love this new system.  I know my students love it as well.  I have had numerous students come up to me and tell how much they like being able to re-take the quizzes.  Of course there are a few students who take advantage of the system.  They fill out the re-take form without much thought or effort and the remediation assignment is thrown together at the last minute.  But, so many of my other students are doing it the right way and benefiting I have to continue.  My students are more confident and are not as afraid to make mistakes as they used to be.  They know that they can learn from their mistakes and not be penalized.

Thanks
Dan