Diagnostic questioning #Computing style
Back in September I was keen to get the Computing teaching community to work together to write a bank of high quality multiple choice questions. In fact, rather poorly, it was the last thing I wrote on this blog! Head back to see why I think that good quality MCQs can be an invaluable part of assessment for learning. Some educators got in touch and sent me some questions, but a lack of common format and no central repository curtailed my enthusiasm for the idea.
Step in www.diagnosticquestions.com. This fantastic site is the brainchild of @mrbartonmaths.
There are lots of sites out there that support MCQs, there are a few reasons why I think www.diagnosticquestions.com stands out:
- It’s free.
- It’s really easy to add questions, including as images. So if people already have quizzes as html files, or moodle quizzes or powerpoint or whatever then they can get transferred in here pretty easily with a simple screenshot upload.
- Students have to explain their answer for every answer. And then they get to compare their explanations to the best ones from students around the world. Fantastic for them, and also fantastic for teachers to delve into understanding, or lack there of.
It would be fantastic if some of the Computing teaching community could chip in with questions of their own. Whilst I’ve put most up so far credit is due to the brilliant @mrocallaghanedu who wrote and shared them originally on his blog.
I plan to use small quizzes each lesson on the run up to exams to ensure that students and myself know what they know, and more importantly know where the gaps are. They can revise to the gaps, and I can teach to them. Of course this will be supplimented with lengthier question types akin to those found in the exam. I also hope to get some of my more able students to write MCQs of their own. It’s no easy task and really tests your subject knowledge, a perfect task for those pushing A/A* grades this Summer in the GCSE.
The Diagnostic Questions site:
