Assessing Assessment: The Effects of Two Exam Formats on Course Achievement and Evaluation
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Assessing Assessment: The Effects of Two Exam Formats on Course Achievement and Evaluation Carrie B. Myers & Scott M. Myers
Published online: 23 September 2006 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2006
Abstract This research examines the effect of two testing strategies on academic achievement and summative evaluations in an introductory statistics course. In 2001, 63 students underwent an hourly midterm format; and in 2002, 68 students underwent a biweekly exam format. Other than the exam format, the class lectures and labs were identical in terms of content, structure, pace, and the cumulative final exam. Findings from the regression analyses show that students in the bi-weekly format performed better than the students in the hourly midterm format. On average, students who took the bi-weekly exams performed about 10 percentage points higher (one letter grade) on the exams during the semester and about 15 percentage points higher on the cumulative final exam compared to their peers who took hourly midterms. The benefits of the bi-weekly format were significantly greater among female students than male students. Finally, students in the biweekly format were less likely to drop the class and evaluated the class far more favorably. Key words assessment . academic achievement . exam formats The academic achievement of college students depends on factors including prior knowledge, study habits, confidence, and motivation (Covington, 1992; Kohn, 1993; Stiggins, 2001; Tuckman, 1998). Faculty use a number of strategies to affect these factors, hoping to achieve positive results in both studying and learning. Perhaps the most entrenched strategy is that of tests and grades, which operate in a punishment–reward
Carrie B. Myers is an Assistant Professor of Adult and Higher Education at Montana State University. She received her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Washington State University. Her research focuses on student and faculty development and assessment and evaluation. Scott M. Myers is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Montana State University. His areas of research are family demography and education. He received a Ph.D. in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Demography from the Pennsylvania State University. C. B. Myers (*) Department of Education, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA e-mail: [email protected] S. M. Myers Department of Sociology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
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Innov High Educ (2007) 31: 227–236
fashion. While the appropriate use of standardized admission tests is debated and controversial (Linn, 2001), the appropriate form and use of tests within the college classroom have received far less attention and research. The use of midterm or hourly exams as a testing strategy is the general norm in college classrooms, especially in lecture-style courses. This strategy has drawbacks, namely, the tendency for students to cram to prepare for midterms, which is inefficient for learning and retention (Donovan & Radosevich, 1999; Willingham, 2002). A small body of literature
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