Exams

Goals for student learning:

Be aware that:

Exams may reward short-term (i.e. “shallow” or “strategic”) learning rather than long-term retention of information or skills.[1]
High-stakes exams may tempt students to cheat. “The more pressure you put on a single exam, the more likely the chance that students will respond by using any means necessary to succeed on it.”[2]
Students may be tempted to alter a graded exam and request a re-grade. You may wish to directly address this temptation with your students. You may also wish to require students to write a short written statement about each question they want to be reconsidered explaining why it should be.

To encourage active, deep, and honest engagement:

Decide how an exam will not only test your students’ knowledge but also ask students to apply that knowledge in a new context.
Generate a grading rubric that matches your goals; how will you reward originality, elegance, or creativity (for instance) as well as correctness?
Discuss the purpose of an exam in class, and offer students guidance on how to prepare for it.
Consider assigning multiple exams or different forms of assessment over the term.
Specify what information a student may access during a take-home exam, and clarify your collaboration policy.
Invite students to use their exam results for self-assessment (what material do they understand? What are they still struggling to master?).

Assignment types and examples:

Resources for faculty:

[1] James M. Lang,Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (Harvard UP, 2013), 41.
[2] Lang, Cheating Lessons, 105.