Grades in Jeopardy: Do On-line Games for Review of Course Material Enhance Quiz Performance of College Students?

We examined the extent to which (a) students in a research methods course used games made available on line to review and assess their understanding of material, and (b) games enhanced their performance on weekly quizzes. Two interactive multiple choice game formats were constructed based on popular television game shows (Jeopardy and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?). Each game posed questions over course material, gave students immediate feedback as to whether their answers were correct or incorrect, and awarded game points for correct answers. The games were made available on-line on the course website on alternating weeks for each of two course sections. Playing the games was optional and did not count toward the course grade. The effect of games on weekly quiz performance was evaluated using a counterbalanced multi-element design across the two course sections. Preliminary results to date suggest that games can be a popular means of reviewing and self-assessing mastery of course material (based on web server data on students who downloaded games) and of enhancing quiz performance.