Wakefield, MA (PRWEB) February 27, 2015
Elementary and secondary school students are often stumped by test questions that require higher-order thinking skills, especially before they have built a foundational knowledge of the relevant terms. They are, in effect, being asked to answer complex questions without first knowing the language.
To attack this problem, JogNog has added Flash quizzes to its library of over 1,700 standards-aligned quizzes. Flash quizzes focus solely on the terms required for a basic understanding of a curriculum standard. The questions are multiple choice with two distinctions:
- One distractor (wrong answer) written to capture typical confusion about a particular term
- A highly-simplified drawing for each answer that further helps the student distinguish between the correct answer and the distractor
With only one distractor, very short terms, and simplified answers with images, Flash quiz questions do not fully test or define the terms. Instead, they provide a rapid and imaginative way for students to build a hook into a key aspect of each term. This approach allows them to remember the terms later and gives them a foundation to build upon in understanding more complex concepts.
JogNog currently has Flash quizzes for grades 6, 7, 8 for Life Science and for Earth and Space Science, with more being added every day.
In addition to offering these unique quizzes for fundamental and remedial learning, the JogNog update includes three new features:
- Students are encouraged to strive for mastery learning by receiving additional coins and stars when they achieve a perfect score.
- Teachers now have a simple, fast way to see how many standards have been covered for each class and how students improve from the pre- and post- assessments.
- Teachers now can easily challenge other classes to a quiz competition that motivates students and promotes cooperation in learning.
“Teachers today are expected to teach higher-order thinking skills. It is a great direction for education but we are often jumping too quickly to the big, complex ideas and questions, and the kids are getting stuck,” noted Stephen Smith, CEO of JogNog. “With this update, JogNog provides a scaffold on which students can build foundational knowledge before they are called upon to exercise higher-order thinking skills.”
JogNog provides digital learning apps for online formative and summative assessment that motivate students to learn in an engaging and fun way. Specifically designed to meet teachers’ needs, JogNog delivers test and review questions aligned to Common Core Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and state curriculum standards for grades 2 through 12. JogNog is one of only a few educational apps that have research showing real-world positive impact on state testing proficiency. It is available on the web, iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows phone, and educational tablets such as Amplify and Kuno. For more information about JogNog, visit http://www.JogNog.com where teachers can also sign up for a 30-day free trial that includes access to all quizzes for all their students.