Writing Effective Knowledge Organiser Quizzes

In my previous blog, “Weaving the Tapestry: How I Use Knowledge Organisers”, I spoke about how my school has made knowledge organisers the core of homework by asking pupils to either write questions and answers about them or to test themselves on the quizzes they have already written.

In previous years, I have always found homework a bit of a struggle and, as a result, on many occasions I quietly avoided it. This year, I’ve seen a substantial change, both in terms of pupils completing homework and the quality of their work. A particularly enthusing example is seeing that many pupils are independently catching up on quizzes when they have been away.

I believe that one of the key reasons why I have seen a significant increase in the perceived ‘buy in’ of students to this form of homework is because, right from the off, we emphasised the sound pedagogical basis of this homework; we explained the forgetting curve to pupils during assemblies and lessons, we demonstrated the importance of interleaving (and modelled this in our “Do Now Quizzes” at the beginning of every lesson) and, whenever we give feedback on homework, we remind pupils of the importance of writing challenging, varied questions.

This is not say that this process has been perfect. My ‘live marking’ of quiz books over the last three months has revealed three major issues when it comes to knowledge organiser quizzes:

1. Questions which are too easy or which are not true recall:

E.g.

“William of Normandy was a Norman. True or False?” “True.”

“Is the birth rate the number of babies which are born per 1000 people per year?” “Yes."

 

2. Questions which show that pupils have not understood the knowledge organiser:

E.g.

“What did the Normans put on England?” “A stamp.”

“What were the Nuremberg Trials?” “A milestone.”

“What do some historians think the Holocaust was?” “The essence of evil.”

 

3. Questions which are irrelevant: 

E.g.

“When was John Hunter born?”

“What was Chad’s GNI per capita in 2015?”

 

I think these problems can be mitigated by following certain steps when writing the knowledge organiser, when introducing quizzing to students and when giving feedback on quizzes.

 

Stage 1: Writing the Knowledge Organiser:

Students who produce ambiguous or irrelevant questions from knowledge organisers usually do so because of the content of that document. The science department in my school advises that children should write “one question per fact in the knowledge organiser”. This is an excellent piece of advice to also have in mind when writing knowledge organisers.

As such, knowledge organisers should…

• …not contain tasks or exam questions.
• …have clear coding and sections: this will ensure that pupils know exactly what they need to include in their quizzes, avoiding missed content or massively overlapping quizzes.
• …avoid ambiguous or figurative language, such as “milestone” or “stamp”.
• …avoid including opinions, unless it is a specific perspective or school of thought which pupils have to learn.
• …be trimmed as much as humanly possible.

One of the best ways to check knowledge organisers against these success criteria is to “play the student”; I try writing the most facetious quiz I can using any knowledge organisers I have written and, as a result, I’m usually able to reveal any fat which I am able to trim.

 

Stage 2: Introducing Quizzing to Students:

In my previous blog, I suggested devoting a lesson to the introduction of knowledge organisers and writing quizzes. I think that the content of this lesson is as important as the time devoted to it. It helps to mop up any initial misconceptions and clearly set out the purpose and expectation for quizzes.

When teaching these lessons, I follow this process:

1. Introduce the forgetting curve to pupils, along with summarised research about the ineffective nature of re-reading or highlighting. I use this to then introduce the rationale behind quizzes.
2. Read through the first section of the knowledge organiser with pupils, modelling good practice (reading aloud, checking difficult words using the key words box and asking small comprehension questions as we reading.)
3. Asking pupils to explain the knowledge organiser section to each other. Remind pupils of the importance of elaboration and asking questions before they start writing their quizzes.
4. Write the first few questions as a class, explaining why different questions are or are not suitable. With some classes, I write a series of completely unacceptable questions beforehand, asking pupils to explain why I would never expect to see them in their work.
5. Pupils write the remaining questions on their own, as I circulate around the room collecting feedback.
6. Give feedback to pupils and get them to improve their quizzes using green pen.
7. Set the next quiz as homework, getting pupils to stick a ‘how to guide’ and a question bank in the front of their quiz books.

Just as when writing knowledge organisers, it is vital that the success criteria for writing quizzes is crystal clear. Hen introducing questions, I have three main criteria which I introduce when introducing quizzing:

• No ‘true or false’ or ‘yes or no’ questions unless pupils also have to give a reason.
• No more than two ‘give’, ‘describe’, ‘name’ or ‘what’ questions in a row.
• No more than two keyword definitions in a row.

Stage 3: Giving Feedback on Quizzes:

Rather than taking quiz book in to mark, my school ‘live marks’ quizzes in lessons, checking through quizzes as pupils complete their “Do Now Quizzes” and then giving pupils instant feedback which they use to improve their work. Just in terms of my own cognitive load this can initially be quite difficult. However, there are a few steps to take which make this process efficient and effective:

1. I write my own model quizzes before marking books. This is particularly useful when haven’t written the knowledge organiser as it forces me to engage with the specific content. My model quiz allows me to identify any hinge questions and to pre-empt any possible ambiguous or unhelpful questions.
2. I decide on a sample of books which I am going to check in depth each lesson. This sample changes from lesson to lesson, though it often includes a specific handful of pupils who I know I’m going to need to target. Once I’ve checked the sample, I focus on checking for compliance.
3. Wherever possible, I try to give specific models of questions pupils need to remove or add to their questions. These often come from the model quiz I’ve already written.

It has been two terms and the general quality of quizzes I have seen from my classes appears to be improving, especially as pupils have realised that I am willing to sack my planning and spend the whole lesson improve a quiz if  need to.

Ultimately, high quality quizzes appear to depend on three things:

1. Write your knowledge organisers carefully with a clear focus on knowledge.
2. Create an environment in which, as much as possible, pupils have no reason not to know how to write a good quality quiz.
3. Know your knowledge organisers and use this knowledge to write specific feedback.

 

Question Bank:

What are gabions?

Give an example of hard engineering which could be used to manage coastal flooding.

Give a possible cause of coastal erosion.

Give one difference between composite and shield volcanoes.

Describe the process of abrasion.

What is term which can be used for the process of eroded rocks smashing against either other, making them smaller and rounder?

Name one effect of an eruption of a composite volcano.

Fill in the gaps: _____ _______ are high concrete walls which protect the coast from waves.

Are salt marshes soft or hard engineering? Give a reason to support your answer. (2)

Draw a diagram which shows hydraulic action weathering a cliff.

Which is more expensive: hard engineering or soft engineering? Give a reason to support your answer. (2)

Why are sea levels rising? Give one possible reason.

Which form of coastal weathering does the diagram below show?

Draw a diagram with two labels which shows a constructive wave. (2)

On the diagram below, label the swash and backwash. (2)

Explain one reason why approximately one million homes were destroyed in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010.

How might a country prepare for an earthquake? Give one strategy.