Improving the quiz: Student preparation and confidence as feedback metrics

The study analyzes the potential of different feedback metrics that could improve learning in quiz-based activities. For five consecutive weeks, a group of 91 sophomore students started their classes on Information Systems with a short multiple-choice quiz. The quiz activity was organized into three phases: (a) provide initial response to the questions, (b) view feedback on class activity and revise initial responses, and (c) discuss correct answers and class performance with the teacher. The feedback included information on the percentage of students that selected each choice, on students' self-reported levels of preparation, and their, also self-reported, confidence that their initial responses were correct. The students used an online quiz tool that was developed for the study and were randomly distributed into four groups, according to the type of feedback they received (only percentage; percentage & confidence; percentage & preparation; percentage, confidence, & preparation). Result analysis revealed that students were relying first and foremost on the percentage metric, even in cases where a wrong answer had the highest percentage value. However, statistical analysis also revealed a significant main effect for confidence and preparation metrics in questions where the percentage metric was ambiguous (i.e., several choices with high percentages).