Advanced quiz development for students’ self-learning in power generation, transmission and distribution

Abstract

Students’ learning can be improved by using online quizzes with a valuable feedback, especially in large groups, making it very interesting for engineering subjects which are based on mathematics. This paper presents the evaluation of an online quiz experience based on a case study in two university subjects. Quizzes were created by using Wiris Quizzes (WQ) that can register the complete solution with all the steps involved. WQ has a calculator that allows us to solve the mathematical part of the quiz. The first aim of the online WQ experience is to provide feedback to students through automatic grading and clues to find the correct answers. The second aim is to promote autonomous student learning. The teachers also have excellent feedback about faulty interpretations or weaknesses in the students’ understanding. Consequently, teachers can provide corrective information to clarify ideas about what they want to be understood and what is understood by students. WQ allows teachers to develop algorithms for the quizzes by using random data, figures realized through programming, and multiple solutions that depend on the values of a table. The teaching experience of using WQ has shown that this tool can be useful in university technological subjects with large groups that require advanced and customized quizzes.