The Effect of Review Questions and Response Cards on Increases in Active, Accurate Responses by Spanish University Students

Abstract

The aims of this study were to compare the use of Review Questions (RQs) and RQs + Response Cards (RCs) in a Spanish university context; to observe which procedure most increases Active Student Responses (ASRs), to verify whether the use of these procedures improves the accuracy of students’ exam answers and, to observe whether unscheduled ASR increases under experimental conditions. 67 Spanish university students from a Spanish public university participated in the study. An A–B design of alternating treatments was used to compare the use of RQ and RQ + RC. The results showed that the condition RQ y RQ + RC increased the frequency of ASRs and RQ + RC improved the accuracy of students’ answers in online exams. There was also an upward trend in unscheduled ASRs during both conditions. The conclusion was that more research is needed to improve the daily teaching practice of university teachers by developing strategies to facilitate formative assessment, to improve ASR and, by extension, to improve the effectiveness of students’ final exam answers.