We used the Web 2.0 internet-application “Twitter” as a platform for formative evaluation in two courses (pilot and experimental study). After each lesson, students answered evaluation questions via Web-browser, SMS, or Instant Messenger. Both courses were also evaluated summatively, online and offline. The offline summative evaluation took place in the last lecture session. The online summative evaluation was carried out by the evaluation unit of the University of Vienna one week after the offline evaluation.

The aim of our research was to find out if Twitter would be a useful instrument for formative course evaluation. We also wanted to verify if the formative evaluation would come to the same conclusions as the summative online evaluation and the summative offline evaluation to the same conclusions as the online summative evaluation conducted 7 days later. Another point of interest was if the formative evaluation would influence the offline summative evaluation.

Participants were students enrolled in two different courses. In the pilot study (n=26), 20 students (response rate 77%) participated in both the summative and formative evaluation. 21 participants (response rate 81%) also filled in the official summative online evaluation. In the experimental study (n=40), 20 students were chosen to take part in the formative evaluation (experimental group). 19 of them (response rate 95%) participated in the formative evaluation and 15 (response rate 75%) took part in the summative evaluation at the end of the term. 25 participants (response rate 63%) also filled in the official summative online evaluation.

Students rated the evaluation via Twitter as useful. Both teachers and students profited from this approach. Because of Twitters simple use and the electronic data handling, there was only little administrative effort. We found that formative and summative evaluations did not come to the same conclusions. T-tests between the offline summative evaluation and the online summative evaluation revealed no differences. Also, there were no differences between the control and the experimental group regarding the summative offline evaluation, which indicates that the formative evaluation had no impact on the summative offline evaluation.