Guided KNOWLA: The Use of Guided Unscrambling to Enhance Active Online Learning
Test yourself questions are effective examples of formative assessment, and have been shown to promote learners' active interaction with materials and knowledge mastery through frequent practice. However, the cost of developing and implementing engaging test yourself activities can be problematic in large scale web based learning environments; a lack of built in scaffolding to guide learners is also a challenge. We introduce Guided KNOWLA, an improvement of KNOWLA a learning tool has learners assemble a given set of mixed size scrambled fragments into a logical order using a web based interface, accompanied by motivational step by step hint/guidance as enhancements. We conducted an exploratory study with graduate learners to examine their attitudes toward Guided KNOWLA activities, measured by perceived usefulness and comparative formats for formative assessment. Preliminary results suggest that using the Guided KNOWLA were useful in helping learners master online materials and were a preferred format of "test yourself" practice to multiple choice questions.
L@S