Some students, especially those in Anatomy and Physics this year, may have noticed a new way of testing their knowledge in class. It comes in the form of weekly quizzes.

As the name suggests, these quizzes take place on a weekly basis usually on a Wednesday. They test students’ knowledge of the unit they have learned so far.

And they may be the way of the future. In physics class, they take the place of the dreaded end-of-unit tests. Some might argue that this is better. And they’d be right.

These quizzes make sure students are up to date on their learning and understanding of the material studied.

They help the content stay fresh in students’ minds instead of a long unit leading to students forgetting what they learned in the beginning and having to cram for the end-of-unit test. We’ve all had those late nights when we feel like we’re stuffing our brains with so much information just to pass the test the next day.

With the weekly quizzes, there is less content to cover or study for and the content has just been learned within the past week so it’s easier to remember.

Since the weekly quizzes cover material that was just learned, the results of the quizzes can help students and teachers, alike, to be more clear on what needs to be improved upon or retaught so that the student has a greater understanding and chance of succeeding in the unit.

Now there are those who do not enjoy the idea of weekly quizzes because they are used to the heavily spaced-out end-of-unit tests.

But if more of the classes moved to this form of testing, more students would grow comfortable with it. There would also be a higher chance of students understanding the material which would lead to higher engagement in classes. It’s time for more frequent, bite-sized assessments rather than big packet tests.