Students who take frequent, low-stakes quizzes may have more than twice the odds of passing a course.¹
The value of an assessment depends on where it’s used. A short quiz can confirm pre-class preparation, reduce lab errors, reinforce a difficult concept, or reveal a learning gap early while there's still time to address it.
Here are five practical ways to use quizzes across a STEM course.
Smart Quiz Placement for Your Course
- ▪️ Before class: Establish the baseline
Pair a short video with a few questions to move students from passive viewing to active preparation. JoVE’s library includes ready-made quizzes aligned with specific videos.
For example, after watching a video on cell division, biology students categorize events as part of mitosis or meiosis. The results show whether a quick review is needed before class moves on. - ▪️ Before a lab: Check practical readiness
Use a pre-lab quiz to cover the setup, procedure, or expected outcome. Faculty can adapt an existing quiz or create their own using the format that best fits the task.
For example, before an Ohm’s law experiment, physics students match circuit components with their functions, select the correct setup, and calculate the expected current. - ▪️ After a difficult topic: Reinforce key distinctions
A short quiz gives students another chance to work through concepts that are easily confused. Auto-grading and immediate feedback help them correct errors while the lesson is still fresh.
For example, after a lesson on redox reactions, chemistry students use true-or-false, dropdown, and fill-in-the-blank questions to distinguish oxidation from reduction. - ▪️ During a unit: Find learning gaps early
Quiz analytics show performance by question and student, helping faculty regularly monitor progress and see whether a problem is isolated or shared across the class.
For example, an anatomy instructor sees that students can name the structures of the heart but struggle to connect them with their functions. The next class begins with one targeted activity. - ▪️ Before an exam: Practice different skills
JoVE Quiz offers seven question types, allowing faculty to test more than recognition. Matching can assess relationships, categorization can test comparison, and fill-in-the-blank questions require precise recall.
For example, before a physiology exam, students complete a mixed quiz on terminology, organ functions, and applied scenarios. The instructor uses the results to focus the final review.
Where to Start: One Useful Checkpoint
Begin where uncertainty creates the most work. It may be a video students tend to skim, a lab setup that consistently creates delays, or a concept that regularly reappears on exams.
Add one short quiz and use the results to shape what happens next. Ready-made questions and auto-grading keep the workload light, while students receive useful feedback before small gaps become larger ones.
Used strategically, each quiz can reveal what students need and guide the next step.
Make every quiz support learning.
- Sotola, L. K., & Crede, M. (2021). Regarding class quizzes: A meta analytic synthesis of studies on the relationship between frequent low stakes testing and class performance. Educational Psychology Review, 33(2), 407–426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09563-9