Evaluating proof blocks problems as exam questions

Abstract

P roof Blocks is a novel software tool which enables students to write mathematical proofs by dragging and dropping prewritten lines into the correct order, rather than writing a proof completely from scratch. We used Proof Blocks problems as exam questions for a discrete mathematics course with hundreds of students, allowing us to collect thousands of student responses to Proof Blocks problems. Using this data, we provide statistical evidence that Proof Blocks are easier than written proofs, which are typically very difficult. We also show that Proof Blocks problems provide about as much information about student knowledge as written proofs. Survey results show that students believe that the Proof Blocks user interface is easy to use, and that the questions accurately represent their ability to write proofs.

Maintaining quality assessment practices in Norwegian higher education after the two-evaluator law

“…Auto-scoring is also possible with other formats, including fill-in-the-blank (Medawela et al, 2018), click-and-drag (e.g. with mathematical proofs a la Poulsen et al, 2022), and clickon-target (LaDue and Shipley 2018) question types. In other words, MCQs are not the only option in the auto-scoring toolkit, nor is auto-scoring itself an "all or nothing" proposition; rather, an instructor can opt for exams that are partly auto-scored, and partly evaluated manually.…”