Overview #
A Pool is a collection of Questions that can be used to populate Packages. A Pool serves as a repository for organizing, storing, and managing Questions based on the criteria you choose e.g. various subjects, difficulty levels, or learning objectives. By creating a variety of Pools, authors can easily draw upon a diverse range of Questions to construct assessments that align with their learning outcomes.
This approach not only streamlines the creation process but also allows for the efficient reuse and repurposing of questions, promoting consistency and adaptability across different courses or learning experiences.
Where do Pools fit in Stackle? #
Each Pool is created within, and belongs to, a Cohort. Each Cohort can contain multiple Pools. Each Pool can consist of numerous Questions, allowing for flexibility and organization of content within a Cohort.
How can we use Pools? #
Pools are straightforward containers that can be used for numerous purposes. Some ways of using Pools to organize your Questions include:
- Categorising by topic or subject: Organise questions into Pools based on their subject matter, making it easier to find relevant questions when creating assessments for particular courses or modules.
- Differentiating by difficulty level: Group questions according to their level of difficulty (e.g., easy, intermediate, advanced), allowing for the creation of assessments tailored to various student skill levels or learning objectives.
- Aligning with learning objectives: Sort questions into Pools that correspond to specific learning outcomes or objectives, ensuring that assessments accurately measure students’ progress towards those goals.
- Targeting specific learning styles: Organise questions into Pools based on the learning styles they cater to, such as visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic. This enables the creation of assessments tailored to address diverse learning preferences, ensuring a more inclusive and effective learning experience for all students.
- Promoting question reusability: Save time and effort by reusing questions from Pools across different courses, maintaining consistency and quality in assessments while reducing the workload for educators.
- Streamlining question updates: Update or modify questions within a Pool and have the changes apply automatically to all packages that use those questions, ensuring that all course materials remain up-to-date and accurate.
- Facilitating collaboration: Share question Pools among educators within an institution or department, fostering collaboration and enabling the sharing of best practices for assessment design.
- Balancing assessment types: Organise Pools based on question types (e.g., multiple-choice, short answer, essay), allowing for the creation of assessments with a balanced mix of question formats that cater to diverse learning styles.
- Enhancing formative assessments: Utilise question Pools for low-stakes formative assessments that provide students with valuable feedback on their learning progress and help educators identify areas for improvement.
