Background: Formative online multiple-choice tests are ubiquitous in higher education and potentially powerful learning tools. However, commonly used feedback approaches in online multiple-choice tests can discourage meaningful engagement and enable strategies, such as trial-and-error, that circumvent intended learning outcomes. These strategies…

Background: Educational assessments increasingly shift towards computer-based formats. Many studies have explored how different types of automated feedback affect learning. However, few studies have investigated how digital performance feedback affects test takers' ratings of affective-motivational reactions during a testing session. Method: In…

Elaborative feedback (EF) containing explanations on students' responses benefits learning. Computer-based environments provide learners with EF in different ways, for example, on an immediate question-by-question basis or after answering a set of questions. Recent findings also suggest that delaying EF enhances learning. However, it is unclear to…

Discusses multiple choice questions and presents a statistical approach to post-test correction for guessing that can be used in spreadsheets to automate the correction and generate a grade. Topics include the relationship between the learning objectives and multiple-choice assessments; and guessing correction by negative marking. (LRW)

Describes two studies that evaluated the effectiveness of a World Wide Web-based formative assessment package used in undergraduate psychology courses. Students taking online multiple-choice tests received instant feedback, and results showed that students who used the package performed better than those who did not. (Author/LRW)