Due to the anonymous nature of online courses, many instructors require some type of proctored, comprehensive exam at the conclusion of the course. While comprehensive final exams are not unique to the online classroom, the integration of a proctored, high-stakes assessment helps to ensure that the student registered for a course is actually the student who is completing course assignments and activities. While this type of approach can ensure the identity of online students, it can be cognitively demanding for students to master the wide-range of material covered in a single, comprehensive exam. The purpose of the current study is to examine the impact of required weekly cumulative quizzes on students’ retention and integreation of information. One online class completed weekly assignments with optional cumulative review quizzes while another online class completed identical assignments plus required cumulative review quizzes. Results indicated that students required to complete the weekly cumulative reviews retained more information as indicated by significantly higher final exam scores than students with access to the optional comprehensive review quizzes. Discussion highlights the value of integrating mastery-learning strategies, such as comprehensive review quizzes, into the course mix.
">Due to the anonymous nature of online courses, many instructors require some type of proctored, comprehensive exam at the conclusion of the course. While comprehensive final exams are not unique to the online classroom, the integration of a proctored, high-stakes assessment helps to ensure that the student registered for a course is actually the student who is completing course assignments and activities. While this type of approach can ensure the identity of online students, it can be cognitively demanding for students to master the wide-range of material covered in a single, comprehensive exam. The purpose of the current study is to examine the impact of required weekly cumulative quizzes on students’ retention and integreation of information. One online class completed weekly assignments with optional cumulative review quizzes while another online class completed identical assignments plus required cumulative review quizzes. Results indicated that students required to complete the weekly cumulative reviews retained more information as indicated by significantly higher final exam scores than students with access to the optional comprehensive review quizzes. Discussion highlights the value of integrating mastery-learning strategies, such as comprehensive review quizzes, into the course mix.