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Repetition: Academic Quiz

Teacher's motivation

An overview course on Danish history has the weakness that even though general knowledge is desirable, acquiring this knowledge is often difficult. Overviews are academically uninteresting, and because the requirement for examination and grading to a certain extent interferes with the acquisition of knowledge. This is why we wish to create an environment for learning and play as a supplement to traditional teaching.

Description of the activity

We translate our textbook in Danish history into 500-1,000 multiple choice questions.

We create the first questions ourselves, but the subsequent idea is to appoint a group of students who can develop more questions in collaboration with teachers.

The questions are entered in a quiz programme which is freely accessible via the department's website in the form of a number of packages that are determined by what you wish to test yourself in. In addition, the questions are placed in the quiz programme BUZZ for PlayStation 3, which makes it possible to 'play' quiz competitions against one another in a simulated game show environment.

During the spring we hold a number of competitions under the auspices of the Friday Bar where the students can register for and compete to find out who is best at Danish history. At the end of the semester a grand final is held, where we find the best Danish historian on the degree programme. Some of the competitions are open to all students. Others are reserved for the students who will be taking the exam in the subject.

In addition, the students who are studying for the exam can use the online quizzes in their preparation and they can borrow the PlayStations in their study groups, so they enjoy a break from the normal preparation by competing against each other.

Outcome of the activity

The project is under development and will be held for the first time in F12. But we hope that the competitions and the concept will become a permanent part of the historian's study environment in the future and thus contribute to

  • creating a basis for other projects that uncover the field between play and learning
  • improving the students' exam preparation
  • creating a tradition of playing with knowledge in an informal environment
  • creating a good study environment with fun activities.

Activities

    Examples of practice


      Basic information

      • Faculty: Arts
      • Degree Programme: History
      • Course: Danish History
      • Study level: BA
      • Course size: 100-120
      • Extent: Whole course
      • Primary type of activity: Acquisition 
      • How the case was conducted: Campus teaching with the use of digital tools for learning

      Links and materials

      This video shows students competing against one another at a Friday bar at History:

      Contributor

      Peter Yding Brunbech. The National Centre of Excellence for the Dissemination of History and Cultural Heritage.