Wang, T., H. (2008) Web-based quiz-game-like formative assessment:Development and evaluation. Computers and Education V51(3), 1247-1263.

This study explored alternative approaches to the traditional automatic assessment (web based multiple choice test). Features such as “repeat the test”, “all pass and then reward”, “monitor answering history”, “call-in strategy”, “prune strategy” and “ask-hint strategy ” are employed into the test to make the test more “game like”. This game-like automatic assessment tries to motivate students to engage into the assessment more actively. Similar approaches can be seen in TV shows like “Are You Smarter Than A Ten Year Old”.

This game-like assessment approach is powered by ICT which offered online assessment more to just simply converting a paper-and-pencil test to an electronic form. It does link an individual mind to what others think via call-in strategy. On the other hand, teachers are able to trace students’ decision making process individually by monitoring answering history. Instead of having students’ final answer, the process of making a conclusion can be recorded, for instance, if a student used a hint or if a student hesitated between two answers before making a final decision.

When this type of assessment is used as formative assessment, it has potential to offer teachers some valuable and additional data of students in assessment process. Hence as this study suggested, game-like assessment should be used as formative assessment rather than summative assessment. Furthermore, a challenge emerged in the game-like assessment. In the design of the assessment, for each questions, a hint design need to be carried out. Questions are how much hint should be given and how to design hint for a question that with different levels.

This game-like automatic assessment offers us opportunities to mine extra data from formative assessments. Further works, both from design and analysis, need to be done to make use of the extra data that are collected by this assessment system; they will be just raw data sitting in the system.