The effects of daily quizzes on student achievement in a chemistry class

Abstract

Students often struggle for their first time in high school when taking chemistry. The complex nature of the course along with the high level of problem solving makes the course challenging for a lot of students. In order to do well in chemistry, students need to learn a new language, love math, think often, and spend time at home practicing each day's lessons. Students therefore need to develop good study habits to ensure success in a high school chemistry course. During an 4-week window students were divided into two treatment groups. Treatment group A were given ten to fifteen minute quizzes every other day. These quizzes were valued at less than 5% of their overall grade, and their grades could be improved upon by demonstrating mastery on the unit test. The control group, B were not given access to the quizzes. The study compared the results and concluded that students who took quizzes frequently earned higher scores on the unit test and earned higher grades for the subsequent marking term.