Prior knowledge is often invisible. The learning outcomes may function as lighthouses on desired achievement. Still they may be difficult to interpret. Through the work with questions it is possible to make them more concrete and visualize the gaps. An introductory quiz was a feasible way to direct the students attention and motivation.

In order to embrace, tune in and monitor prior knowledge and the expectations of the students, an introductory quiz was developed digitally. The first set of questions were developed by former students. They were invited to write questions on what they thought everyone should know after completing the course, resulting in 110 unique questions. It has been used by more than 300 students since the start in 2011 in an ongoing developmental process. Responses were made anonymous. At the course start no feedback on correct answers were given, only the score was presented to the student. At the end of the course also feedback on each question was presented. The five week course was assessed by home assignments and no final written exam is given. 

To explore how the students perceive the use of pre-post quiz the assignment were specifically inquired about in the final course evaluation, by free text comments. The free text was analysed using thematic analysis. 

Preliminary analysis of the responses revealed different themes in relation to learning, motivation and feasibility. The students´ opinion in general was that it was an excellent way to get an idea of what to expect and also during the course it made them more alert when the questions were discussed.

It was evident that the students experienced the quiz as an eminent way to visualize their learning process and to get feedback on how they aligned in comparison with the learning outcomes, thus stimulating their learning process. A few of the students thought that it was too extensive or of limited use.

The teacher considered this an excellent way to get a "kick start", improve motivation for the content as well as getting an overview of prior knowledge and gaps.The quiz was launched as the first element in the course.

The thematic analysis of the students responses when evalutaion their point of view before, during and after the course are shown below.

Try this at home! Self-testing may promote motivation and scaffold self directed learning.

                                                                                                                       Contact details jeannette.unge@med.lu.se, christina.gummesson@med.lu.se