ELECTRONIC MCQs WITHOUT RIGHT-OR- WRONG ANSWERS George MacDonald Ross Director, PRS Subject Centre Leeds L&T conference, 5 Jan. 2007

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs2 Programme Presentation on the project Demonstration of a sample MCQ Discussion of the applicability of the technique to other disciplines

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs3 Context Full UTF, Jan Project grant, £15k over 3 years (AY 05/06 to AY 07/08) Most expenditure on part-time researcher This the first progress report

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs4 Progress Delay in appointment of researcher Real work begins January 2007 Enough will be done for pilots in 2007 and 2008 Project finished by end of 2007/08 Complete set of materials used in 2008/09

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs5 Purposes of project Two complementary purposes: –To show that electronic MCQs can be used in subjects where there are few right-or-wrong answers –To improve the quality of student learning in text-based subjects

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs6 Using MCQs Pressure to introduce e-learning Temptation to search for factual questions for MCQs Factual questions give the wrong message to students in text-based subjects Need for alternative approach

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs7 Improving learning (1) For students, reading primary texts is often passive This leads to boredom, and reliance on other ways of learning about the texts We need cost-effective means of engaging students actively

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs8 Improving learning (2) I teach a module on Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, with a running commentary Students are assessed on their ability to argue about how the text is to be interpreted, and whether it is right or wrong But while they are reading, they are not trained to argue

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs9 Solution (1) Use MCQs to confront students with: –Different possible interpretations –Different possible arguments for or against each interpretation –A commentary on each argument, not usually saying whether it is absolutely right or wrong

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs10 Solution (2) Ideally students will go through all the interpretations and arguments They will be actively engaged in thinking about the issues They will have exemplars they can follow in actively reading other passages

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs11 Solution (3) Electronic MCQs are used despite there being no right-or-wrong answers Students are engaged actively while reading primary texts Apart from the initial set-up cost, there is no additional cost in staff time

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs12 Problems The initial set-up costs are high Students don’t receive individual feedback While it is possible to monitor whether students take the MCQs, they can’t count towards assessment, hence reducing motivation to take them

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs13 Sample MCQ MR/hmp/modules/kantmcq/p19/p19fr ame.htmlhttp:// MR/hmp/modules/kantmcq/p19/p19fr ame.html You can adjust the height of the frames with the horizontal bar More MCQs will be added to the /kantmcq/ folder in due course

5 January 2007Leeds L&T: MCQs14 Thank you for participating George MacDonald Ross Department of Philosophy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK