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Main Authors: Stonaha, Paul, Douglas, Stephanie
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.18058
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author Stonaha, Paul
Douglas, Stephanie
author_facet Stonaha, Paul
Douglas, Stephanie
contents Assigning course grades to students requires obtaining accurate measures of the students' understanding and knowledge of the topic. The induced stress from a traditional summative assessment is known to negatively impact student grades, confounding the connection between knowledge and test grades. Documented approaches to reduce stress during examinations can lead to a distracting testing environment (two-stage tests) or are subject to cheating (take-home tests). We have developed a hybrid take-home/in-class exam that avoids such difficulties. We present herein the responses from student surveys conducted after each exam. The results of the surveys indicate that the hybrid exam method reduces test anxiety while improving students' self-reported mastery of physics, as compared to traditional in-class summative assessments. These findings are significant at the p < 0.05 level. Lastly, we discuss the difficulties encountered in applying this test approach.
format Preprint
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publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Efficacy of a hybrid take home and in class summative assessment for the postsecondary physics classroom
Stonaha, Paul
Douglas, Stephanie
Physics Education
Assigning course grades to students requires obtaining accurate measures of the students' understanding and knowledge of the topic. The induced stress from a traditional summative assessment is known to negatively impact student grades, confounding the connection between knowledge and test grades. Documented approaches to reduce stress during examinations can lead to a distracting testing environment (two-stage tests) or are subject to cheating (take-home tests). We have developed a hybrid take-home/in-class exam that avoids such difficulties. We present herein the responses from student surveys conducted after each exam. The results of the surveys indicate that the hybrid exam method reduces test anxiety while improving students' self-reported mastery of physics, as compared to traditional in-class summative assessments. These findings are significant at the p < 0.05 level. Lastly, we discuss the difficulties encountered in applying this test approach.
title Efficacy of a hybrid take home and in class summative assessment for the postsecondary physics classroom
topic Physics Education
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.18058