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This paper compares the success rates of students in two different sections of Principles of Microeconomics taught in 2013-14. In one, the course was taught using weekly quizzes which culminated in a comprehensive final exam. In the other, two large exams replaced the weekly quizzes. The method of assessment had a clear impact on the DWF rate, increasing from 10 percent when using the quiz method to 56.67 percent when using the exam method. The method of assessment showed no impact on other measures of student success such as performance on the comprehensive final exam or improvement from pre-test to post-test.
Keywords: Microeconomics, Assessment, DWF Rate, Chunking, Testing
Disciplines of Interest: Economics, Education
INTRODUCTION
As instructors of Principles of Microeconomics, or other business courses, we are often looking for ways to increase the success of students taking our courses. In particular, Principles of Microeconomics has long been an area of poor performance [Berrett, 2012]. At many institutions, this course is primarily taken by students because it is required for their various majors rather than due to a particular interest in economics. This potentially makes the teaching of this course even more difficult. How then as an instructor is it possible to increase the effectiveness of learning and the success of students in this course? Is there indeed a better way to teach Principles of Microeconomics?
First we must ask, how do educators teach most effectively? How do learners learn most efficiently? There are probably as many different answers to these questions as there are models of instruction that are derived from distinct learning theories or paradigms. Different models of instruction imply different teaching/learning strategies and different methods of assessing student learning. One vehicle for assessing student learning is the use of quizzes and tests.
Although testing is undoubtedly viewed unenthusiastically by most students who, if given a choice, would choose to take as few tests as possible, research has shown that frequent testing in classrooms can produce significant academic improvement. The purpose of this study, then, was to examine how to structure assessments to maximize student learning and student success. Specifically, this study seeks to determine whether quiz-based learning which assessed students on their learning of smaller chunks of materials resulted in better learning...