A student-constructed test learning system: The design, development and evaluation of its pedagogical potential

Abstract

Although research has found that student-constructed tests (SCT) have some potential for promoting cognitive elaboration, as yet there are no systems available to support the associated activities. This study designed and developed an SCT learning system guided by the ideology of contribution-based pedagogies, accentuating the principles of adaptability and flexibility. To assess its learning potential, a group of 54 student teachers used the system, and data on their perceptions, generated work, and online log files were collected and analysed. The constant comparative method, descriptive and inferential statistics, and content analysis were employed in the data analysis. Several important findings were obtained. First, a global and macro view accentuating the integration and inter-connectedness of the study material was obtained by the participants based on the SCT activity. Second, a significant proportion of the participants considered SCT as their preferred assessment and learning approach, highlighting its affective and cognitive potential, in comparison to the traditional teacher-constructed tests. Third, SCT encouraged a majority of students to generate questions involving cross-chapter topics and engage in question revision behaviour to different extents, indicative of knowledge integration and elaboration. Significance of this study and suggestions for instructional implementations, online system development, and future study are provided.