Moodle at English language classes: test tasks diversity

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Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv

Moodle at English language classes: test tasks diversity

Shandra Nataliya Andriivna

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences

Associate Professor of the Department

of Foreign Languages for Sciences

at the Faculty of Foreign Languages

Abstract

The article defines the concept of distance learning which is interpreted as an individualized process of obtaining knowledge, abilities, skills and ways of cognitive activity of a person which occurs mainly through the mediated interaction of remote participants of the educational process in a specialized environment that functions on the basis of modern psychological, pedagogical, information and communication technologies. A review of scientific literature on the interpretation of this concept by Ukrainian and foreign scholars is provided.

Emphasis is placed on the aim of distance learning which lies in the provision of educational services by application of modern ICT in education at certain educational or educational-qualification levels in accordance with state education standards; according to the programs of preparing citizens for admission to educational institutions, training of foreigners and improving qualification of employees. It is emphasized that computer-based testing is the most objective and standardized method of monitoring students' progress and evaluating learning outcomes. Moreover, it is stressed that one of the most common educational platform is MOODLE - Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment - a training management system, educational environment for participants of the educational process aimed at implementing educational tasks at a distance.

The most common ways to create a test in the MOODLE system are indicated in the article. Among them are inserting test questions directly into the “Test”, inserting test questions into a certain category in the “Question Bank”, importing questions into the “Question Bank” from the test file, importing questions from other format files, including graphic and multimedia files.

It is stated that multiple choice questions, short answer questions, matching and essays are frequently used at English language classes since they provide a wide range of options to check students' knowledge of grammar and vocabulary.

Keywords: MOODLE, English language, distance learning, online learning, tests.

Шандра Наталія Андріївна кандидат педагогічних наук, доцент кафедри іноземних мов для природничих факультетів факультету іноземних мов, Львівський національний університет імені Івана Франка, м. Львів

MOODLE на заняттях англійської мови: різноманітність тестових завдань

Анотація

educational computer testing student

У статті подано визначення поняття «дистанційне навчання», яке трактуємо як індивідуалізований процес набуття знань, умінь, навичок і способів пізнавальної діяльності людини, який відбувається в основному за опосередкованої взаємодії віддалених один від одного учасників навчального процесу у спеціалізованому середовищі, яке функціонує на базі сучасних психолого-педагогічних та інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій. Здійснено огляд наукової літератури щодо трактування даного поняття вітчизняними та закордонними науковцями.

Акцентується увага на меті дистанційного навчання, яке полягає у наданні освітніх послуг шляхом застосування у навчанні сучасних інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій за певними освітніми або освітньо-кваліфікаційними рівнями відповідно до державних стандартів освіти; за програмами підготовки громадян до вступу у навчальні заклади, підготовки іноземців та підвищення кваліфікації працівників.

Наголошено, що комп'ютерне тестування є найбільш об'єктивним і стандартизованим методом контролю успішності учнів та оцінювання результатів навчання. Крім того, у статті зазначено, що однією із найпоширеніших освітніх платформ є MOODLE - модульне об'єктно-орієнтоване динамічне освітнє середовище -- система управління навчанням, навчальне середовище для учасників освітнього процесу, спрямоване на реалізацію освітніх завдань на відстані.

У статті перелічено найпоширеніші способи створення тестів у системі MOODLE. Серед них варто назвати внесення тестових питань безпосередньо в “Тест”, внесення тестів у певну категорію в “Банк запитань”, імпорт питань в “Банк запитань” з файлового тесту, імпорт питань з файлів інших форматів, в тому числі графічні та мультимедійні файли.

Вказано, що на заняттях з англійської мови часто використовуються такі типи тестів, як багатоваріантне питання, питання з короткою відповіддю, встановлення відповідностей та написання есе, оскільки вони надають широкий спектр варіантів перевірки граматичних та лексичних знань студентів.

Ключові слова: MOODLE, англійська мова, дистанційне навчання, онлайн навчання, тестування.

Formulation of the problem

In 2020 the whole world faced the problem of isolation from each other and everything usual. Luckily, the access to the Internet remained unchanged. It is distance learning that enables us to continue the implementation of educational process since, according to the Regulations on Distance Learning, technology of distance learning can be used by higher educational institutions when conducting classes via the Internet during quarantine and while organizing educational process for any form of online learning technology can be used for methodical and didactic purposes ensuring independent work, control measures as well as during training sessions [4].

Improving teachers' qualification regarding issues of the use of remote technologies in the educational process is one of the most relevant topics discussed in higher educational institutions. English language teachers are not the exception.

Analysis of recent research and publications

Analyzing scientific articles by Ukrainian and foreign scholars, it has been noticed that based on their own prolonged experience and observations, the author tries to plan and implement the educational process with the help of distance learning system MOODLE.

The notion of distance learning and its implementation as well as electronic learning systems of higher educational institutions based on MOODLE has been studied by plenty of researchers [1; 2; 3; 6]. However, an issue concerning a variety of tests which can be created on MOODLE and used during English language classes has not been studied yet.

The purpose of the article - describe and illustrate the creation of various computer-based tests in the MOODLE system at English language classes.

Presenting main material

The problem of creating distance courses acquired a new meaning for higher educational institutions during Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Regulation on Distance Learning, it is defined as an individualized process of obtaining knowledge, abilities, skills and ways of cognitive activity of a person which occurs mainly through the mediated interaction of remote participants of the educational process in a specialized environment that functions on the basis of modern psychological, pedagogical, information and communication technologies (ICT) [4]. The aim of distance learning is the provision of educational services by application of modern ICT in education at certain educational or educational-qualification levels in accordance with state education standards; according to the programs of preparing citizens for admission to educational institutions, training of foreigners and improving qualification of employees [4].

The tasks of distance learning are to provide citizens with opportunities to implement their constitutional right to acquire education and professional qualification, professional development regardless of gender, race, nationality, social and property status, occupation, worldview beliefs, party affiliation, attitude to religion, creed, state of health, place of residence, respectively to their abilities [4]. Researcher I. Herasymenko defines distance learning system not as a means of replacing a teacher with a computer program but as a means of interaction between students and teachers on the basis of information and communication technologies [2, p. 22]. According to I. Herasymenko, the use of remote technologies supplies higher educational institutions with reduction of training costs, conducting classes for a large number of students, improving the quality of education through the use of modern ICT, means of electronic libraries, increasing the amount of independent work, creating a united informational educational environment of higher education institutions [2, p. 24].

Computer-based testing is regarded to be the most objective and standardized method of monitoring students' progress and evaluating learning outcomes [6]. Currently, there is a sufficient number of platforms for organizing remote teaching. One of the most common educational platform is MOODLE - Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. This is a training management system, educational environment for participants of the educational process aimed at implementing educational tasks at a distance [1, p. 4]. The modular structure of MOODLE provides the opportunity to easily modify the design of courses and availability of more than 40 languages packs - to localize the system [5].

A distance course on MOODLE provides the access to:

lectures (multimedia presentations, video lectures, audio material, infographics, etc.) at any time;

theoretical material, practical tasks at classes and assignments for individual work;

various types of tests;

downloading completed tasks;

reviewing obtained grades with teacher's comments;

using a distance course at any time convenient for students;

siting modular control tests and exams at a specified time;

implementing communication between students and

teachers, students and students [1, p. 10].

It should be noted that requirements for computer testing include:

testing variability;

instant presentation of students' diagnostic results;

immediate processing of test results;

implementation of compatible testing algorithm;

accumulation of test results and analysis of their dynamics;

dynamic design of tests [3, p. 18].

There are several ways to create a test in the MOODLE system. They are as following:

inserting test questions directly into the “Test”;

inserting test questions into a certain category in the “Question Bank”;

importing questions into the “Question Bank” from the test file;

importing questions from other format files, including graphic and multimedia files.

Working with the course Question Bank, it is advisable to immediately compose all questions by categories, thereby preparing the foundation for the subsequent creation of various tests. In our opinion, it is worth elaborating categories that correspond to course topics or modules and add other subcategories to each such category in order to correspond to different difficulty levels of questions or diverse question types. This will make it possible to generate a test in the future which will cover, firstly, the material of the entire course, secondly, it will provide an opportunity to take tests of different levels of complexity and, thirdly, to implement an even distribution of test tasks in each variant for each student.

The next step after organizing categories in the Question Bank is creation of test tasks. This can be accomplished in two ways:

add each individual question to the appropriate category;

prepare template questions and upload them to the Bank.

It should be noted that multiple choice questions, short answer questions, matching and essays are worth preparing according to the template and downloading since it is easier to format them in Word document and import in one step than to enter all the answer options one by one. More complex types of questions such as with missing words, ordering, built-in answers, dragging on the picture must be created one by one directly in the Question Bank.

It is significant to remember that when creating a question, the field “Question Name” is mandatory. Although this field is not displayed for students, it is used for visual recognition of questions in the Bank. The question name can coincide with the text of the question (if the question is short) or contain the key phrase of the question.

With the help of “Multiple choice” test task it is possible to create two types of tasks: choosing either one or multiple correct answers. In order to add a task of the “multiple choice” type, a teacher needs to select the “Multiple choice” item in the additional window “Select the type of test task”. The next step is to fill in and set parameters of the test task in the appropriate fields (Fig. 1 & 2).

Fig. 2. Typing a multiple choice test task

There are several variants of entering answers to multiple-choice tests. The answers can be correct or incorrect. If the option to select one correct answer is set in the task, only one variant is correct. At least 2 answer options must be filled in for a task to be added to the Question Bank. Evaluation can be chosen for each answer option. If the task item is for 1 correct answer, the correct answer should be evaluated at 100%. (Fig. 3-5). If there are 2 correct answers, then each of them should be evaluated 50% (Fig. 6-8).

Fig. 4. Creating a multiple choice test task with 1 correct answer

Fig. 5. A multiple choice test task with 1 correct answer visible to students

Fig. 6. Creating a multiple choice test task with 2 correct answers

Fig. 7. A multiple choice test task with 2 correct answers each of which is worth 50%

Fig. 8. A multiple choice test task with 2 correct answers visible to students

A test task of the “Short answer” type is a task to which the answer must be entered by a student using a keyboard. In order to add a test task of the short answer type, a teacher needs to select the item “Short answer” in the additional window “Select the type of test task” and click “Next” button. This will allow to obtain access to a window for adding a new test task of the short answer type. Next step is to fill in and set the parameters of the test tasks in the appropriate field (Fig. 9).

It is worth indicating that the test task may also contain links to audio and video recordings, pictures, animations, graphs, charts, tables, executable files, text files and web pages. There are can be either one or several correct answers (Fig. 10). Students ought to be cautious while carrying out this task since an incorrectly typed answered (i.e. misspelled) is considered to be completely incorrect (Fig. 11).

The test task of the “Essay” type is not graded automatically. The grade is assigned manually by the teacher after reviewing the answer. For creating a test task of the essay type, it is necessary to select the “Essay” item in the additional window “Select the type of test task” and click “Next” button. The window for adding a new test task of the “Essay” type will appear (Fig. 12). Next step is to fill in and set the parameters of the test tasks in the appropriate field. When all the fields are filled in, the “Save changes” button should be clicked. The entered test task should now appear in the test task registry (Fig. 13).

The use of “Matching” test tasks require students to correctly match words, word combinations or sentences of one list with those of the other one. In order to add a test of this type, it is necessary to select the item “Compliance” in the additional window “Select the type of test task” and click “Next” button. As a result, a window for adding a new task of the described type will appear. The next step is to fill in and set the parameters of the test tasks in the appropriate field (Fig. 14).

Fig. 13. An essay task visible to students

The matching test type allows to enable the function called Shuffle when the order of the answers is randomized on each new attempt. The random order of answers option in the test settings must be enabled (Fig. 15). It is significant to enter at least 3 answers consistent with the entered task (there are can be 2 tasks). A task element can be a single word or phrase which corresponds to a certain answer. All matching pairs are equally valuable. For example, if there are 5 matching pairs, each matching is evaluated at 20% of the entire test item (Fig. 16).

Fig. 14. Creating a matching task

Fig. 16. A matching task visible to students

Conclusion

MOODLE, an educational platform for organizing distance learning, provides English language teachers with a wide range of possibilities to create tests of diverse complexity. It has been noticed that multiple choice tasks can equally be applied to grammar or vocabulary tests. A huge benefit of this type of task is the opportunity to include more than one correct answer.

A test task of the “Short answer” type can also be used both for grammar and vocabulary tasks like paraphrasing, translation or continuing the sentence. It should be stressed that teachers must be cautious while entering the correct answer since the system is extremely sensitive. Namely, any additional space or word is considered to be a part of the answer. Consequently, if students do not type that in, their answers will be seen by MOODLE as incorrect ones.

“Essay” type allows students to either download their essays or type them in. The main distinguishing feature of this task is manual checking by teachers. The lecturer is supposed to examine students' essays in terms of grammar, vocabulary, coherence, cohesion and punctuation. Whereas at matching tasks a teacher is checking either grammar or vocabulary knowledge of students. This type of tests can be applied to revising idioms, phrasal verbs, synonyms, antonyms, tenses, conditionals etc.

Further research of implementing such tasks types as identifying missing words, random compliance questions, dragging within a text, dragging markers, dragging to the picture, true / false questions used during English language classes is needed.

References

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