How are quiz scores related to students' performance in blended-learning?

International audienceThe popularity of blended learning is growing at the university, especially because it allows greater flexibility and autonomy for students. However, this way of teaching does not necessarily ensure student success and strategies need to be put in place. Research shows a large positive effect of testing on students’ performances [1]. Indeed, studies reveal a link between quiz participation and performances in many contexts, including blended-learning [2]. Through two studies that took place at a French university, our research aims to test whether, above participation, quiz scores have an effect on performances. Moreover, our paper will try to test if this effect differs depending on whether the students are low, medium or high achievers. Data from 80 nursing students (study 1) and 46 computer science students (study 2) was gathered, including several quiz scores and a performance pre- and post-tests. Study 1. Results from multiple regression analyses show a significant effect of quiz scores on performances, while taking into account the pretest scores. Study 2. Longitudinal data also shows a significant link between quiz scores and students’ performances. Furthermore, low achievers quiz scores and performances increased greatly through time until they catch up with medium achievers. Both studies show that quiz scores are strongly positively related to student performance, regardless of their pretested performances, especially for low-achievers who really benefits from this activity. We learn that, at least in blended-learning, students need to achieve success in quiz to obtain great performances. An intuitive explanation would be that students who are ready for the quiz will also be ready for the evaluation. Another explanation would be that the easier the quiz, the greater the performances. Further research should explore those two tracks.[1] Roediger & Karpicke, 2006.[2] Agarwal, Karpicke, Kang, Roediger, & McDermott, 2008; Einig, 2013