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Which Are Better, Surveys or Quizzes?

For this type of lesson flow, I believe a survey is fairer than a quiz. However, every situation is different. If you find that your students are taking advantage of the unaccountable nature of surveys by answering randomly, you may want to use quizzes.

However, quizzes require a single unambiguously correct answer, and surveys allow for flexibility and interpretation. In a literature class, you may ask about a student's interpretation of a character's motivation, for example. Such a question may lead into a class discussion on that topic.

Furthermore, at the end of a survey, you can show the students a pie chart of all of the responses. This may mean that MOARS needs an equivalent to this for quizzes, too.

Why not use both?

If you like the notion of surveys, but feel the need for the type of scores generated by quizzes, why not use both?

1. In lockstep, the lesson proceeds with students answering survey questions every now and then.
2. Near the end of the lesson, steer the students to a quiz that uses the same or similar questions.

That's one way to do it that will most likely encourage students to take good notes during class.