Transcript Exam Style: Open vs. Closed Notes The Main Survey: Spring 2007

Exam Style: Open vs. Closed Notes
John S. Colton, Department of Physics
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Background/Motivation
•
•
•
•
Preliminary Interviews: Fall 2006
In our Physics Department, most exams allow students to use a one-page note sheet
Last year we found that graduating seniors lacked a basic understanding of some of the fundamentals
Is the note-sheet doing them a disservice?
Anecdotal: Most people (here and in published literature) feel that open-notes exams allow students to
concentrate on “truly important” aspects rather than “wasting time” with memorization
• Students were given four different exams: note-sheet, closed notes, open notes, take home
• Students were interviewed in focus groups about how the style of exam affected their
grade, study habits, motivation, anxiety, etc.
• The Spring 2007 survey was developed based on the responses of the focus groups
The Main Survey: Spring 2007
Student Attitudes
Benefit of Closed-note exams
Benefit of Open-note exams
•
•
•
•
• “…allows the student to spend more time understanding
conceptually what is going on”
• “More practical in the real world”
• “...a note card allows you to double check the equation
you wrote down. Your brain can work in strange ways
when it is under pressure and you can forget the most
basic info and the note card just gives you that safety
blanket”
• “You can get a higher score while knowing less physics”
• “As a professor once said to me, the physics is not in the
formulas, but knowing how they are used” (Common
Physics professor attitude)
• “There are none [if the professor gives the hardest
formulas on the exam]”
“You work harder and remember more”
“[offers] a larger incentive to spend more time studying”
“I see no real benefit”
“Memorizing formulas you can easily look up if needed is
completely worthless”
• “…my personal belief is that if an equation is
important/used enough that it should be memorized, you
will either eventually just remember it from looking it up so
much, or get sick of looking it up and spend the time to
memorize it” (Same attitude as most Physics professors,
but is it true??)
Significant Differences:
Open vs. Closed
closed
open
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
p = 0.19
0-65
66-73.5 74-81
82-88
number of respondents
Number of students
Exam Score Histogram
Did having a note sheet (or not) cause your
score to inaccurately reflect your knowledge?
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
89-100
p = 0.13
0-2
2-4
4-6
6+
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
p = 0.17
6
4
2
0
did not use
used
slightly
used
used
moderately extensively
number of respondents
number of respondents
8
p = 0.01
slightly
less
unaffected
slightly
more
much
more
Prepared formula sheet?
Study strategies: took notes from text?
closed
open
closed
open
much less
study
number of hours
10
p = 0.06
How did exam style affect your study
compared to a typical exam?
number of respondents
number of respondents
Number of hours spent studying
for the exam by self?
closed
open
closed
open
not a factor small factor moderate large factor
factor
Score
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Interesting Observations
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
closed
open
p = 0.001
did not use
used
slightly
used
used
moderately extensively
• Hours spent studying alone varied significantly, but hours
spent studying with others did not.
• 74% of students felt their exam score was lower than it
should have been
people without notes said it was due to lack of notes
 people with notes said it was due to other reasons
• 52% of students felt like anxiety lowered their score
 split equally between open & closed
• Closed note group did not take notes from text. They also
did not prepare a formula sheet
 How on earth are they studying??
Conclusions/Future Work
• Groups will be reversed for the next exam, and re-surveyed
• Motivation for study: students studied more for closed notes
 But not as effectively?
• Assessment: students felt like open-notes assesses better
and that closed-notes artificially lowers scores
 Perception was larger than reality
Consider dual purpose of exams