Quizzes and Exams

A Method to Prevent Cheating on Online Exams

Face-to-face instructors who give in-class exams have a challenge when moving their courses online: How to ensure that students do not cheat on the exams by collaborating? Different methods have been developed to address the problem. For instance, institutions can send each student a 360-degree

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Using a Data-Driven Approach to Write Better Exams

Like many faculty members, I started teaching as a subject matter expert without a formal background in education. My examination questions were either based on questions I recall from my personal experience as an undergraduate or questions provided to me by more senior faculty. Since

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Make Your Exams More Secure by Using Question Banks

As many classes and exams migrate online, many professors are increasingly concerned about an uptick in cheating. Preliminary numbers indicate those concerns are valid. In August 2020, Derek Newton in The Hechinger Report disclosed that at North Carolina State University, for example, 200 students in

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Improving the Quality of Machine-Gradable Questions

Tests provide one measure of our students’ learning according to the standards of the instructor and the field. But tests also affect our students socially, emotionally, and financially and influence their science-minded identities for years to come. We owe it to students to create fair

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repetitive quizzes

Using Repetitive Quizzes to Build Knowledge

Every year I teach a compulsory first-year course on the basics of psychology, which includes an introduction to developmental psychology. Lately I have also been teaching a follow-up elective course on child development. When I discovered that many of the students in the elective had

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why I stopped giving exams - student reading

Why I Stopped Giving Exams

A few years ago, a student came to see me because she was having trouble passing the Praxis exam, which was delaying her student teaching and her ultimate career goal. She had taken the exam three times and had met with another professor to get

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second chances at learning

Second Chances at Learning

In a 1992 article in College Teaching, authors Mealy and Host identify three types of students who report high levels of anxiety during exams; those who lack adequate study skills, those who can study but are easily distracted during an exam, and students who mistakenly

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self assessment

The Link Between Self-Assessment and Examination Performance

Self-assessment is important for effective learning. Students who are skilled at examining their own thought processes can use the resulting information to learn and perform well in testing situations. In addition, those who effectively use feedback from exams can raise their level of learning.

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group reading quizzes

The Daily Quiz

I use a daily quiz that has a two-fold purpose: first, it tests the students’ knowledge of the day’s reading material; and second, it provides a focus for the lecture and activities scheduled that day in class. Whether attendance is required or just encouraged, a

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why reading quizzes work

Reading Quizzes: Why They Work

The body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of regular quizzes on assigned readings continues to grow. They’ve been shown to raise exam scores in courses from different disciplines, at two- and four-year institutions and with varying quiz logistics (online and in class, for example). It’s

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