Formative self-assessment for customizable database visualizations: Checkpoints for learning

A formative self-assessment opportunity has been added to database visualizations, which are designed to introduce students of many majors to fundamental database concepts. Instructors can customize the example and text within the animations so that database concepts can be presented within the context of their discipline. The formative self-assessment is called a checkpoint, which is based on database terminology for checking the state of the database. Checkpoints for learning provide students with the opportunity to check the status of their learning. Using the results of prior research on formative self-assessment, the design of the checkpoints includes true/false and multiple-choice questions targeted to assess the learning objectives of the animations. Feedback to the students on their progress and correctness are visually integrated within the checkpoints. In addition, a preliminary evaluation of the student's perspective of the checkpoints for learning indicates that students find them quite helpful and an important learning component of the animations. This paper also includes a discussion of techniques for using the formative self-assessment as part of a class setting as well as future research directions.