Teaching Tip: Pop Quizzes
Many teachers use pop quizzes as a form of assessment to keep students 'on their toes.'
Here are some guidelines for using pop quizzes.
- Tell your students at the beginning of the year that you will be using pop quizzes throughout the year.
- Pop quizzes should be short. They should not exceed 10 minutes.
- Since the students are probably not expecting a quiz on that particular day, use a multiple-choice or true/false format rather than an essay format.
- A pop quiz should cover just on topic. Assessments that cover a lot of material on different topics should be formally scheduled.
- Students typically do poorly on pop quizzes. It is better to use pop quizzes for feedback purposes rather than as the basis for grades.
- You can save time by having students score each other's quizzes.
