Evaluation of a Quiz and Self

The grammar quiz, focusing on proposition usage, can be found at Dave's ESL Cafe or by clicking on this link: click here.

Practicality
This quiz is practical in the context of time needed to take and grade the test, cost of the test, and method of grading. Its small size makes it easy for students to finish in a small amount of time and for teachers to grade, even if the class sized is large. The quiz can be printed from online, retyped, or completed online easily. The quiz is also a blend of norm- and criterion-referenced.

Validity
This quiz is valid on a small scale. With only 10 questions, it doesn't include all prepositions, actually being limited to just a few. It is also very face-valid for the students and content-valid, being very obvious in its intention of determining their understanding of prepositions.

Reliability
The quiz has a few shortcomings in reliability. It is very consistent in its form, however, being multiple choice, students are given options to guess at as opposed to independently coming up with an answer. Also, as it is an online quiz originally, the availability of computers and internet access can be affecting factors of its reliability in administration. The test doesn't change; the questions are the same each time you go back to it. Scorer reliability will not be an issue since it is multiple choice with definite answers.

Authenticity
The questions are good examples of real-world language use and contain subject matter that is interesting and useful to language learners. There is no story line in this quiz, but a story line can easily be implemented if modifying this quiz or creating a replica.

Washback
There is poor opportunity for washback with this online quiz. If the quiz was administered as a paper form, then washback could be present. When necessary, incorrect answers are marked and correct answers or given.




Self-Evaluation

My lesson on Tuesday, 7/6, pertained to giving and receiving directions for driving, walking, bicycling, etc. where the individual is responsible for getting themselves to the desired destination, as opposed to a specific grammar aspect. If there was less teacher monologue in the beginning, more time could have been allocated to interaction between students. Instead of listing all of the vocabulary in the beginning, I could have engaged students earlier by asking them for directions, steering them towards using the intended vocabulary, explaining the vocabulary words if and when necessary. I do think that the activities that would eventually occur in the lesson are very communicative.