Dearborn High Science teacher and Dearborn Moodle Moot 2015 attendee Mrs. Heather Ferris has been working diligently this year to create powerful course materials on Moodle (iLearn) for her chemistry and forensic science students. So far, Mrs. Ferris has provided resources and links, and had students participate in online discussion forums about topics in chemistry. She has also made practice quizzes for students to prepare for upcoming tests. These quizzes have included various types of questions to gauge student understanding, including multiple choice, essay, drag-and-drop, and short answer.
This week, Mrs. Ferris administered a practice test on which students just returning from their two-week winter break were able to review the material they learned before the break in preparation for the upcoming assessment. However, this practice test was different from others. While the test consisted mostly of multiple choice questions, there was an additional element to help students think about their understanding: the added feature of Certainty-Based Marking (CBM), a research-based best practice (see below).
Certainty-Based Marking is a feature built into iLearn that requires students to not only answer the question, but indicate how certain they are of the accuracy of their answer on a scale of 1 (not very certain) to 3 (very certain). Their score is a function of both. 
Students answering questions in this format are required to think carefully about how well they know the material–a clear exercise in metacognition. This also helps to differentiate between students who get questions correct when they actually know the material and those who didn’t really know the answer but happened to select the correct answer, which an ordinary multiple choice question simply can’t do.
This is yet another illustration of how Moodle (iLearn) provides teachers with unique opportunities that are not available without it.
Research that supports the implementation of Certainty-Based Marking
Gardner-Medwin, T., & Curtin, N. (2007). Certainty-based marking (CBM) for reflective learning and proper knowledge assessment. In Proceedings of the REAP International Online Conference: Assessment Design for Learner Responsibility [Internet] (pp. 29-31).
Cisar, S. M., Cisar, P., & Pinter, R. (2009, September). True/false questions analysis using computerized certainty-based marking tests. In Intelligent Systems and Informatics, 2009. SISY’09. 7th International Symposium on(pp. 171-174). IEEE.
Nicol, D. (2007). E‐assessment by design: using multiple‐choice tests to good effect. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 31(1), 53-64.
Schoendorfer, N., & Emmett, D. (2012). Use of certainty-based marking in a second-year medical student cohort: a pilot study. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 3, 139.