In-Class Versus At-Home Quizzes: Which is Better? A Flipped Learning Study in a Two-Site Synchronously Broadcast Organic Chemistry Course

We recently shared our design of a two-semester flipped organic chemistry course in which we gave students in-class quizzes to incentivize attendance and watching the lecture videos in advance. With a second iteration, we planned to make the video-watching experience more engaging. We accordingly hypothesized that if students completed short at-home quizzes while watching the videos, then attentiveness, engagement, and learning would increase. We tested this with a later section of the course, dividing the material into 13 units. For units 1–6, we gave in-class quizzes; for 7–13, quizzes were at home. Although units 1–6 and 7–13 covered different material, we were nonetheless surprised when students’ average quiz scores decreased for the take-home quizzes because they did not have a time limit and were open-book, unlike the in-class quizzes. Anonymous survey feedback showed a strong preference for quizzes in class and indications that take-home quizzes demotivated attendance and preclass watching of the v...