Sociology Learning Support

Self-assessment tests are for you to check your understanding on the computer. There are several different kinds of tests. The computer marks your test and gives you a score.

Multiple-choice Tests	You have to choose one or more correct answers from those given on screen. There are ten questions. It is best to start with these tests. You get a score based on your answers. Where you are asked to choose more than one response, the number of correct responses is included in the question. This has been changed following feedback from students.
Short-Answer Tests	You have to supply the correct answer. There are ten questions. These are a good follow-up to the multiple-choice tests. You get a score based on your answers.
Matching Items	These tests ask you to identify the advantages and disadvantages of specific methods. This is good preparation for examination questions, which often ask you to do this. You drag the item to its match or choose from a drop-down list.
Missing Words and Phrases	These are incomplete paragraphs where you fill in the gaps. You can ask for a hint. These gap-fill exercises are useful revision when you have finished a topic. You can print these: click on File and Print. Some of these have a list of words from which you choose. In other cases, you have to decide for yourself.
Crosswords	These are revision exercises to test your understanding. You can ask for a hint if you are stuck. Crosswords can be printed: simply go to File and then Print.
Tests with Reading	Some tests are based on a text which appears on the right of the page. You can listen to or read the text and answer the questions at the same time, or work through the text first and then try the test. The text is timed: it appears on the screen for a limited time. This will help you to prepare for examinations where you have to read stimulus items. If you would like to read the text again, just click on the message at the top of the text.
Word Searches	These are timed exercises where you compete against yourself to see how long it takes you to identify key terms or authors. They are designed to help students to identify and spell key terms
Hangman Game	This is an exercise designed to help you remember and spell key terms and phrases
Jigsaws	These are revision exercises for topics. You drag the names of sociological concepts or authors to the correct place to help you associate them with visual images. For those of you into learning styles, this is a combination the visual and kinaesthetic styles!
ContentGenerator.net games	These are basically quizzes with a twist. They include multiple-choice and matching games.
Drag-and-drop activities	There are different types of these. Some involve memory activities, where you flip cards to find matching pairs. Others involve matching authors with the subject of their research, or dragging phrases to form an appropriate sequence of events for concepts like the poverty trap or self-fulfilling prophecy.

Tests have been written on small sections of the course so that you can test yourself often, and so that they can be used with both AQA and OCR specifications.

Self-assessment tests are written in Hot Potatoes software (version 5.5) created by Half-Baked Software.

Word searches are produced using Word Search 1.1 written by Mike Hall - www.brainjar.com
The Hangman Game is produced using Hangman JavaScript Creator Version 1.0 - December 2001 © Copyright by Michael Rottmeier http://www.teaching-tools.de.vu

Fling the Teacher, Walk the Plank and Matching Games are available from www.contentgenerator.net, either free or for a ridiculously low price. They produce Flash files, but you don't need Flash skills or the program to write them.