The document summarizes a presentation about Qstream, an online learning platform that facilitates long-term memory retention through brief daily quizzes. It discusses how Qstream works for both students and instructors, highlighting features like detailed explanations, statistics reports, and its benefits for supplementing courses, continuing education, and lifelong learning. Popular topics on Qstream include Shakespeare, and limitations include reliance on instructor time/effort and student motivation.

1. LEARNING IN SMALL DOSES:
FACILITATING MEMORY RETENTION
WITH
Anne McKinney
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2. OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION
Explanation of the learning model
Best uses & limitations
What students see
What instructors see
Questions

3. WHAT IS QSTREAM?
 Online site for informal learning
 Emphasis on long-term memory retention
 Quiz questions take just a few minutes a day
 Repetition over several weeks
 Developed by Harvard Medical School

4. PROCESS FOR STUDENTS
Student receives
daily quiz
question
Student logs in to
site to submit
answer
Each question
must be answered
correctly 2-3x

5. LEARNING BY TRIAL (AND ERROR)
 Answer page shows correct answer, explanation,
statistics for learners
 The key to successful courses = Detailed
Explanations
 If a student answers incorrectly, they can learn why
the correct answer is correct
 Instead of teaching to prepare for a quiz, instructors
can quiz to prepare for teaching

6. BEST USES IN EDUCATION
Course
supplement
Practice
quizzes
Study guides
Continuing
Education
Professional
development
Staff training
Lifelong “fun”
learning

7. POPULAR TOPICS

8. LIMITATIONS
Quality depends
on instructor’s
time & effort
Usefulness
depends on
student’s
motivation
No grading
system
No CMS
integration
Third-party
software

9. TOUR – LEARN A LITTLE SHAKESPEARE
• Strengthen learners’ familiarity
with famous passages and trivia
from Shakespeare’s plays and
sonnets for cultural literacy
Objective
• Multiple choice (17)
• Fill-in-the-blank (18)
• Multiple answer (2)
37 questions
• English teachers
• Homeschooled students
• “Bard Geeks”
• Other Qstream users
My students
(20 as of May):

10. WHAT STUDENTS SEE
 1 question / day
 Email
 RSS
 Each question has an image
 Each answer has a detailed explanation
 Explanation includes answer choices in boldface*
 Related video embed
 References
*Results may vary

11. REPORTS FOR INSTRUCTORS
User Engagement
Report
• Tells me who’s
enrolled
• # of questions they
have answered /
retired
• Whether they are
“on track” or falling
behind
Question
Performance Report
• Statistics for each
question
• # of correct /
incorrect
responses
• Multiple choice
statistics show
percentages for
incorrect answers

12. TIPS
Explanation!!!
Test your
course as a
student – do
questions
work?
Ask students to
disable
browser
cookies for this
site
Creative
Commons –
licensed
images:
http://compfight
.com

13. QUESTIONS?

14. THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!
For more information:
http://app.qstream.com/
Anne McKinney
eLearning Specialist, College of Business
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
amckinn@illinois.edu
@amckinn