Students Test Themselves
 Interactive "self-testing" activities allow students to
test the knowledge they have acquired in interactive tutorials. As is always the case,
different kinds of questions assess different levels of student understanding. Problems
are posed both in a narrowly targeted multiple-choice format similar to that often used in
paper and pencil testing, or in a more open format with fewer cues to the correct
response.
In this self-test, students select a multiple-choice problem; here, "Problem 2"
has been selected. The instructions for solving the problem are given in the blue text in
the middle of the page. Here, the student is asked to identify the highlighted (blue)
formant on the spectrogram. The possible responses ("1st Formant", "2nd
Formant", etc.) are listed at the lower right.
If students select an incorrect answer (in this example, by clicking "2nd
Formant"), they are told on the screen that they have made a mistake. A feedback
window contains the message, "Try again." Students can then try other answers.
 When a student selects the correct answer ("1st Formant"),
the course responds positively. The feedback window displays the message,
"Good!" In addition, more comments pointing out other salient information
appear. Here, three more formants on the spectrogram are identified, reinforcing material
presented earlier in the tutorial.
 This interactive self-test covers the same concepts using a
more open-response format. In this format, there is no list of answers for students to
select from.
Here, "Problem 4" has been selected. Again, the instructions for solving the
problem are given in blue: "Click the fourth formant on the spectrogram."
In this open-response exercise, unlike the previous
self-test, a student can respond by clicking the mouse anywhere on the spectrogram. The
program provides graduated feedback to student responses. If a student clicks a part of
the spectrogram that is far from the intended one, the program displays a feedback window
that suggests another try. This time, the student has clicked close to the intended area
near the fourth formant. The feedback window appears with the message, "Not quite
right - try again!"
When the student clicks anywhere on the fourth formant, the course offers positive
feedback by highlighting the target and displaying the message, "Good!" in the
feedback window. The exercise does not automatically end at this point; students have the
opportunity to look for the boundaries of the fourth formant, searching for its edges by
clicking the mouse button.
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