Online quizzes as a self-assessment tool in higher education: The case of Mathematics in Business Administration

Abstract

The discussion about first-year students’ difficulties in mathematics is continuous in the fields of economics, business, administration and engineering. The present study examined the impact of self-assessment online quizzes on students’ mathematical performance and the development of their persistence to work on a mathematical task. The participants’ students attended an obligatory introductory course on Mathematics as part of a program in Business Administration. Their performance was compared with the respective students’ performance the previous academic year, who did not use the online quizzes. Results indicated that students with medium and high initial performance tended to have a higher positive impact on their performance through the use of the self-assessment online quizzes than students with low performance. The discussion concentrates on how academic math teachers can use technological or digital tools in order to attract and motivate their students to work on mathematical tasks that are expected to be related to their future orientation