Introduction

A trial of Brainzone was conducted at the end of first semester 1997 in an introductory core subject in Soil Science. Students taking this course are from a varied disciplinary background - Agriculture, Environmental Science, Agricultural Economics, Education, Science, Land Resource Science and Plant nutrition.

Past experience has shown that because of this diversity in background students were unable to assess the depth of learning required in the subject. They relied heavily on assignment feedback. From the academic staff's point of view, providing adequate feedback on one hundred weekly assignments was very time-consuming.

Brainzone provided the means by which students could assess their learning as well as obtain feedback.

Method

A formative test, from a bank of thirty multiple- choice questions, was generated in Brainzone. The test generated two compulsory and eight randomly selected questions at each sitting and the time allowed for the test was twenty minutes. Prior to making the test available, the students were told that the topic of the test would be included in a written practical exam that would be held at the end of a two-week period. The self-assessment test was made available on Brainzone in the two weeks before the exam.

During the trial two surveys were carried out. The first, prior to conducting the test, obtained information on student familiarity with the World Wide Web and within-University Internet Access through a questionnaire. At the end of the test period a second questionnaire was circulated to obtain student feedback on Brainzone. Both questionnaires were given out at the commencement of two separate classes and responses collected at the end of each class. There were four questions in the first survey and three in the second. The nature of the questions were such that students had to provide a "Yes" or "No" answer and to make "Comment, if any".

Results and Discussion

Survey on World-Wide-Web Accessibility
There were 59 respondents (63% of total students) to the first survey. All students that attended class returned questionnaires. Results from the first questionnaire indicated that all students were aware of the Internet, seven students (12% of respondents) were not aware of the locations for access in the University. Eighteen students (31% of respondents) had never accessed the World-Wide-Web (WWW). Although aware of the Internet a large proportion of students in the second year of University had not found the need to use the WWW. This raised some concern that the technology may pose a barrier to the learning of these students. Based on this survey, an information sheet was provided to each student on locations for access to the Internet on the St. Lucia campus with detailed instructions for accessing Brainzone on the computer.

Brainzone Test
The student report produced by Brainzone following the test is presented in Table 1. Student names have been deleted to preserve confidentiality. Ten students sat for the test more than once, two (5%) sat for it as much as eight times, and with repeated attempts scored high marks (Table 1). The allocated mark relates to the most recent attempt of the test. Though unclear if the number of attempts occurred at the same sitting, the repeated attempts and the associated high marks clearly illustrate that a significant number of students benefited from the technology. The time taken to complete the tests also varied, the shortest time being 2m 15s (after a student's eighth attempt) and the longest 18m 46s. It is interesting to note that shorter times were also associated with achieving high marks (> 70%) illustrating a range in student learning and the importance of allowing an appropriate length of time for a test. Students indicated with an asterisk had never accessed the WWW prior to the test. In a formative test environment, therefore, unfamiliarity with the technology did not pose a barrier to these students. However, the 31% of respondents who had never accessed WWW would be of concern if students were not given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Brainzone prior to summative test conditions.

Feedback on Brainzone
Figure 1 presents the results from the second survey. There were 58 respondents to the questionnaire. Of the 39 that sat the test, 24 found it user-friendly and 32 thought it was a useful learning tool. The "useful tool" indicator also reflects the quality of questions and feedback in terms of relevance to student learning. Though fifteen students found Brainzone non user-friendly only six found it not to be a useful tool. Table 2 provides all the reasons given by students for the negative responses for each parameter. Based on the responses, timeliness and access time is an important factor for a formative test. Increasing the access time from two weeks to a longer period may encourage more students to use Brainzone to assess their learning. The longer time period may also allow better time management with assignments by the students.

Table 2. Reasons given for negative response to question

Parameter	Reason for negative response
Sat Test	Too busy with other assignments Did not have the right software and/or RAM to access Brainzone from home computer Forgot
User-friendly	Library computers were too slow Inappropriate software and hardware on home computers to access Brainzone
Useful Tool	Inability to print out questions and answers Unhappiness with feedback that directed students to available literature rather than provide direct answers

The main criticism against the User-friendliness of Brainzone was hardware/software related rather than concerned with the tool itself. Six students found it was not a useful tool. This negative response was based on the nature of the feedback and the inability to obtain hardcopy of the test. Though Brainzone allows the printout of the screen, printouts of the test were not encouraged in order to maintain the self-testing nature of the assessment.

Conclusions

Under formative conditions Brainzone was found to be a useful tool for student learning and self-assessment. The ability to provide feedback to students also makes it a valuable teaching tool. A greater period of access time for tests may encourage more students to use Brainzone. Improved access to computers with appropriate hardware and software will improve its user-friendliness.