Using Moodle Metrics to Analyze Student Navigation of Online Assessments with Mixed Question Types in Introductory Chemistry

We present an analysis of the quiz metrics (question responses, marks, and times) recorded by a virtual learning platform (Moodle) in the context of a series of chemistry assessments. These metrics allow us to investigate whether any particular strategies are associated with higher or lower marks on the assessments. We find that there are no significant correlations between the order in which students attempt questions or edit their answers or between the percentage of the allowed time that students use and their performance on these quizzes. However, we did observe some patterns of behavior that seemed to distinguish students who obtained marks below the median and those who obtained higher marks. This work was conducted with reference to the model of “Scholarship of Teaching and Learning”, and as such, we also describe some practical implications of this work for our own pedagogy, which others who teach chemistry across a range of educational levels may also find useful.