Impact of EDpuzzle Use on the Assessment and Measurement Course Achievement

Guzey et. al (2021) discuss their investigation on the impact of the tool Edpuzzle on the achievement of an Assessment and Measurement undergraduate course. Edpuzzle is a tool that enables technology-enhanced assessment. The tool became more heavily used during the pandemic when schools went remote and instructors wanted to track seat time and better understand how students were engaging with their content. The research study employed a an exploratory research design with a pre- and post-test control group. Guzey et. al (2021) explains that tools like Edpuzzle provide a practical approach to technology-enhanced assessments because the instructor can make enhanced item types without coding. Users can quicky create new content or customize existing content based on their objectives. Expuzzle also provides immediate feedback and scoring or students and enhanced reporting for the instructor. Guzey et. al (2021) explains the affordances of using Edpuzzle that have been discussed in the literature. Specifically, the researchers claim that the research shows that Edpuzzle increases student motivation, helps students construct conceptual knowledge, improves academic achievement while reducing cognitive load, and supports self-regulation skills. Having identified Edpuzzle as a web 2.0 tool, the researchers also point out the positive impact web 2.0 tools have been linked to having on student achievement in the literature. For this reason, this study sought to elaborate on the impact of using Edpuzzle, a web 2.0 tool, on an undergraduate course.

Guzy et. al (2021) took a pre- and post-test-matched control groups design approach. One hundred and sixty six students undergraduate students participated in the study. Groups were matched based on their teaching assignments and randomly assigned as control and experimental groups. The control group was made up of science and social studies teacher candidates, while the experimental group was made up of math and Turkish Language teacher candidates. An achievement test from a nationwide public personnel selection exam used in earlier years was used to collect achievement data about the Assessment and Measurement course. Quizzes consisted of multiple-choice and short response open-ended question format and were prepared for the following topics: fundamentals, statistics/central tendency, reliability, and validity. A rubric was used to evaluate students' performance on a performance assessment that incorporated writing items on a chosen topic and developing an achievement test. The analytics gathered from student engagement with the tool were used for analysis. A pre-test was given to both groups before the experimental intervention. Those in the experimental group watched videos and took quizzes in Edpuzzle each week. Student performance was used to identify gaps in the learning. Students in the experimental group also received corrective feedback and were exposed to instructional strategies like group activities, presentation, discussions, peer learning, and question-answer sessions. In the control group, the instructor taught in a traditional way.

The result showed no significant difference between control and experimental groups on their pre-test score. However, there was a significant difference between groups on their post-test scores (medium-level effect size). The experimental group also performed significantly better than the control group on the topics of fundamental concepts, central tendency, central dispersion, and validity. The groups did not perform significantly differently in the performance assessment task. Guzy et. al (2021) conclude by explaining that the results suggest that the group that utilized Edpuzzle as a web 2.0 tool achieved significantly better results than the control group that did not use the web. 2.0 tool. Potential reasons for non-significant difference on student achievement on the performance tasks is suggested as an avenue future studies.

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Students in the experimental group received corrective feedback and were exposed to instructional strategies like group activities, presentation, discussions, peer learning, and question-answer sessions. In the control group, Guzy et. al (2021) state that the instructor taught in a traditional way. What "traditional" instruction is and looks like is not clearly defined by the researchers. The educators also fail to recognize the limitations of the study. The research focused on adult learners participating in an undergraduate teaching course that incorporated opportunities for face-to-face learning experiences. These results could not be generalized to adolescents and online teaching environments. This could also be mentioned as an area for future research since it was noted in the introduction that interest around the tool stemmed from a desire to make sure students were really watching videos during the Pandemic. While this behavior is not limited to adolescents, it does seem more characteristic of them than adult learners.

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While web 2.0 tools are not an area of research I am interested in pursuing for my dissertation, I was interested in finding out what the research says about tools like Edpuzzle, Playposit, and Discovery Education Experiences video quizzes. Teachers have gravitated towards these tools because of the analytics, reporting, and progress monitoring functionality, but little is discussed about their impact on teaching and learning. While this study does show that Edpuzzle had a positive impact on undergraduate students student achievement in an Assessment and  Measurement course, I'm not convinced these same results could be replicated in a k-12 environment. I also think that some concepts lend themselves better to video instruction and some learners prefer to engage with the learning through video while others do not. This leaves a great deal of gray area in terms of the value tools like Edpuzzle have on teaching and learning.

Reference
​SULAK GÜZEY, S., AKDOĞDU YILDIZ, E., DEMİR, M. C., & AKSU-DÜNYA, B. (2022). Impact of EDpuzzle Use on the Assessment and Measurement Course Achievement. Journal of Hasan Ali Yücel Faculty of Education / Hasan Ali Yücel Egitim Fakültesi Dergisi (HAYEF), 19(1), 52–60. https://doi.org/10.5152/hayef.2021.21045