Pop Quiz- What is the Purpose?

From the desk of Hope…

I have been doing some wondering lately……what is the purpose of a pop quiz?

In my own teaching career, I’ve given my share of pop quizzes, but they were mostly early in my career when I didn’t teach with very much intention. I remember thinking, “I will see if they are paying attention” and “I know they are not listening. I will catch them…”

I figured out later that this attitude was a part of what is called the “gotcha” pedagogy.  At the heart of it we believe we must keep constant vigil or the students will “pull one over on us”.

Pop Quiz anxiety. As the parent of a high strung student, I can tell you that pop quizzes generate anxiety.

If I put myself in my son’s frame of mind…how stressful it must be to go through the day thinking you need to memorize trivial details because a pop quiz may be lurking.

For students like my son, the anxiety of a pop quiz is enough to keep him on edge every day at school. Is this the best context for learning to occur?

Instead of a pop quiz. Wouldn’t it be better if our learners apply, synthesize, and evaluate knowledge rather than regurgitate it?

Let’s take a look at a few things that could take the place of a pop quiz.

Free Write: Write for five straight minutes telling what ideas from the reading, video, guest speaker, etc. you thought were most interesting and what ideas you thought were confusing.

Anticipation Guide: Anticipation guides serve two primary purposes:

• Elicit a student’s prior knowledge of the topic.
• Set a purpose for reading, viewing, or listening. Students engage to gather evidence that will either confirm their initial beliefs or cause them to rethink those beliefs.

Collaborative Discussions: Students are told before they read, view or listen they are going to get into collaborative groups and discuss the content. Specific rubrics can be developed to go with the discussion. (The rubric should also be introduced on the front end of the lesson.)

So back to my wondering…

Does a pop quiz serve any purpose at all? Does it do more harm than good? Maybe you are a student, parent, or teacher with a different opinion. Maybe you see the value in pop quizzes. I would love to hear from you.