2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Students often find it tempting and expedient to rely on input from outside sources to complete homework problems which, unfortunately, bypasses the type of engagement required for real learning. Current brain science informs us of the importance of the retrieval process and spaced repetition. When students passively observe others solving problems, or merely re-copy lecture notes and solutions, they are not engaging in the necessary retrieval process for their learning to enter long-term memory. And, when students do six to eight hours of homework just one night a week, they know they are exerting a lot of effort, but may not realize their study practices don't provide the necessary spacing to cement new connections in their brains.

One obstacle in moving to better study practices is that students may believe they are learning based on the sheer magnitude of their efforts and the homework points in their teacher’s grade book. The goal of this work in progress is to incentivize more frequent touches with the course content and to raise the students' awareness of what they are learning. Short, frequent digital quizzes is the solution explored in this work.

Students in a statics section submit a mix of digital or written homework each day that the class meets. On the days that digital homework is due, the class class period begins with a five-minute digital Progress Check Quiz (PCQ). PCQs consist of 1-2 simple conceptual questions or calculations related to their assignment. The PCQ gives feedback to the student on their learning and provides another opportunity for spaced retrieval related to the new concept. The quizzes are graded, but low-stake. Points lost on PCQs may be made up by completing optional “extra credit” problems in their digital assignments, thereby encouraging more practice for those who have not yet mastered the concepts. The instructor sees the the PCQ scores in real time and can revisit concepts with the class at the completion of the quiz or counsel students who are regularly not performing well.

Two surveys, one mid-semester and one at the end of the course, allow the students to report on their study practices and what actions, if any, they take in response to losing points on a Progress Check Quiz. The hope is that the introduction of PCQs incentivizes changes to behavior that improve quiz performance and deepen learning.

Preliminary results show the activities students engage with outside of the classroom are strongly tied point values. Most students report that the quizzes motivated some level of additional engagement (thinking about the content, following up with questions, or working additional problems). In general, students had positive view of the quizzes and the format.