Choice module
Template:Choices
A choice is very simple – the teacher asks a question and specifies a choice of multiple responses. It can be useful as a quick poll to stimulate thinking about a topic; to allow the class to vote on a direction for the course; or to gather research consent.
Choice requires some preparation time for creating your activity and thinking about what results you would like to achieve, but your participation with activity itself is likely to be minimal. You may want to summarize and/or tease out responses provided by students or to ask students themselves to summarize and to further interrogate those responses.
Educational Benefits of Using Choice
Practically, the choice activity can be used to give students a variety of options to choose from. For example, signing up for seminar or tutorial groups. Choice can also be used to gain some rapid feedback on a question - for example, to choose between a range of dates for a meeting or to make a decision about other options in your course.
Pedagogically, the choice activity can be used to provide an opportunity to share starting points through which learners are encouraged to think about and articulate existing knowledge and understandings of a topic. For example, you can ask students to make ‘choices’ about a statement such as “in learning to become a teacher, the most significant issue for me is” (giving the following choices): trust, theoretical underpinnings, communication or delivering materials to students.
This has two benefits: firstly, it forces participants to engage with their choice and think, in advance of a further related activity (you might wish to follow up such a choice activity with a forum discussion or a reflective activity like the online text assignment), about the context and consequences of this choice. Secondly, it allows tutors and students to gain a better understanding of existing views/understandings/knowledge related to the question, idea or concept at hand in the Choice activity.
The choice activity in Moodle only allows participants to select one choice from a variety of options (that you provide), but you may set the activity so that participants can change their choice. You can also set the activity so that it ‘closes’ or ‘locks down’ on a specific date, making all choices final from that point on. This allows participants to change their minds several times before a final date.
See also
- Using Moodle Chapter 14: Surveys and Choices
- Using Moodle Have Your Students "Sign" an Agreement forum discussion
