Evaluating the Effect of Practice Quizzes on Exam Performance in an Advanced Software Testing Course

Lindsey Nielsen, Sudipto Ghosh, Marcia Moraes

2025

Abstract

.Self-testing is considered to be an effective educational practice for enhancing student performance and longterm retention. Various studies have investigated the impact of using practice quizzes with different levels of difficulty and varying detail in the provided feedback, but they tend to investigate these factors separately and in K-12 and lower division computer science courses as opposed to upper level courses. Our study shows that practice quizzes can significantly improve students’ exam grade in an advanced computer science course in software testing. We evaluate and gather student perceptions on two different systems, MILAGE LEARN+ and Canvas Learning Management System. Over the semester, students took five quizzes via MILAGE LEARN+ or Canvas, each with the option of beginner and intermediate difficulty levels. Students using MILAGE LEARN+ received detailed explanations for their selected answers, while Canvas quizzes only showed them which answers were correct (or incorrect). Students focusing on intermediate-level quizzes performed the best on exams, followed by those engaging with both levels and finally, those focusing on beginner-level quizzes. The practice quizzes improved student exam grades in the current semester compared to the previous semester which did not include practice quizzes. MILAGE LEARN+ received mixed reviews but was generally viewed positively. However, students preferred Canvas for future use.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Nielsen L., Ghosh S. and Moraes M. (2025). Evaluating the Effect of Practice Quizzes on Exam Performance in an Advanced Software Testing Course. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU; ISBN 978-989-758-746-7, SciTePress, pages 208-215. DOI: 10.5220/0013199800003932

in Bibtex Style

@conference{csedu25,
author={Lindsey Nielsen and Sudipto Ghosh and Marcia Moraes},
title={Evaluating the Effect of Practice Quizzes on Exam Performance in an Advanced Software Testing Course},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU},
year={2025},
pages={208-215},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013199800003932},
isbn={978-989-758-746-7},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU
TI - Evaluating the Effect of Practice Quizzes on Exam Performance in an Advanced Software Testing Course
SN - 978-989-758-746-7
AU - Nielsen L.
AU - Ghosh S.
AU - Moraes M.
PY - 2025
SP - 208
EP - 215
DO - 10.5220/0013199800003932
PB - SciTePress