Assessing the impact of computer-based formative evaluations in a course of English as a foreign language for undergraduate kinesiology students in Chile

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of computer-based formative evaluations in an undergraduate English course for second semester kinesiology students at the Universidad Austral de Chile – Valdivia (UACh). The target of the course is to improve the students’ online reading comprehension skills in their field. A preliminary study was carried out in order to select the platform to implement the formative evaluations. Two platforms were available: a Dokeos-based system (Dokeos, 2015), and Questionmark Perception (Questionmark-Corporation, 2015). We performed a technical review of both platforms and an empirical test in a pilot group where students’ preferences were analyzed. Perception was selected since it proved to be the best choice in terms of functionality and ease of use. The target kinesiology group was divided into two subgroups, G1, and G2, of the same size and similar composition in terms of gender. Each group had the opportunity to use the computer-based formative evaluations for one half of the semester, while the other group took traditional classroom lessons in the corresponding period of time. Most students using the computer-based approach had better performance than their counterparts in the actual exam, which was taken in a paper and pencil format.