Can Oral Exams Increase Student Performance and Motivation?

Nathan Delson; Saharnaz Baghdadchi; Maziar Ghazinejad; Marko Lubarda; Mia Minnes; Alex Phan; Curt Schurgers; Huihui Qi

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: ERM: Let's Talk about Tests! (Tests Part 1)
Page Count: 32
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41127
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41127
Download Count: 1524

Paper Authors

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Nathan Delson University of California, San Diego

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Nathan Delson is a Teaching Professor at the University of California at San Diego. His research interests include robotics, biomedical devices, and engineering education. He teaches introductory design, mechanics, mechatronics, capstone design, medical devices, and product design & entrepreneurship. His interests in design education includes increasing student motivation, teamwork, hands-on projects, and integration of theory into design projects. In 1999 he co-founded Coactive Drive Corporation (currently General Vibration), a company that provides haptic solutions. In 2016 Nate co-founded eGrove Education, Inc. an educational software company focused on teaching sketching and spatial visualization skills.

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Saharnaz Baghdadchi University of California, San Diego

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Saharnaz Baghdadchi is an Assistant Teaching Professor at UC San Diego. She is interested in scholarly teaching and uses active learning techniques to help students achieve expert-like level of thinking. She guides students in bridging the gap between facts and usable knowledge to solve complex engineering problems.

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Maziar Ghazinejad University of California, San Diego

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Marko Lubarda University of California, San Diego

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Marko Lubarda is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. He teaches mechanics, materials science, design, computational analysis, and engineering mathematics courses, and has co-authored the undergraduate textbook Intermediate Solid Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 2020). He is dedicated to engineering pedagogy and enriching students' learning experiences through teaching innovations, curriculum design, and support of undergraduate student research.

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Teaching Professor at UC San Diego

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Huihui Qi University of California, San Diego

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Dr. Qi is an Assistant Teaching Professor at University of California, San Diego.

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Abstract

This is a Research paper. A large number of students never raise their hand during lectures or go to office hours. This is especially the case for large undergraduate classes. It is hypothesized that many students would benefit from more interaction with an instructor or teaching assistant. This study is part of a larger project of implementing oral exams in undergraduate engineering courses with potential benefits including improved assessment and reduction in academic integrity concerns. In addition to these benefits, this study paper explores whether oral exams can increase student motivation to learn and performance in the class. In this study, 560 engineering students in 6 classes were given oral exams and were surveyed about their experience. In one of the classes with 37 students, a controlled trial was performed with students randomly assigned to 3 groups. After the first written midterm one group had an oral exam with the instructor, one group had an oral exam with the Teaching Assistant (TA), and the last group did not have an oral exam. In the second written midterm the group with the instructor increased their grade by 14%, the group with the TA increased by 3%, and the group with no oral exam had a negligible change in performance. Potential reasons for the larger impact of an oral exam with the instructor were explored with one possibility being increased student motivation. A survey question about student motivation was administered to all 560 students in the study for which a majority of the oral exams were administered by TAs or other Instructional Assistants. Overall 338 students responded to the survey question and 70% of them Strongly Agreed or Agreed that the oral exams increased their motivation to learn. A correlation analysis was run using the demographic data of the students. First generation status had a statistically significant correlation with p=.031, where 78% of first generation students indicated that oral exams increased their motivation to learn compared to 66% for students that are not first generation. Other statistically significant correlations occurred with Cumulative GPA (p=.001) and Term GPA (p=.003), but with a negative correlation coefficient. The students that Strongly Agreed that the oral exam increased their motivation to learn had the lowest GPA (Cumulative GPA = 3.23 and Term GPA=2.89). These 3 statistically significant correlations all indicate that students who may likely benefit from more academic support had a larger increase in motivation following an oral exam. Hypotheses are presented for the reasons for student gains following oral exams, and proposals are made for the roles of Instructional Assistants and instructors in future studies and classroom implementations.

Citation
Format

Delson, N., & Baghdadchi, S., & Ghazinejad, M., & Lubarda, M., & Minnes, M., & Phan, A., & Schurgers, C., & Qi, H. (2022, August), Can Oral Exams Increase Student Performance and Motivation? Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41127

TY - CPAPER
AB - This is a Research paper. A large number of students never raise their hand during lectures or go to office hours. This is especially the case for large undergraduate classes. It is hypothesized that many students would benefit from more interaction with an instructor or teaching assistant. This study is part of a larger project of implementing oral exams in undergraduate engineering courses with potential benefits including improved assessment and reduction in academic integrity concerns. In addition to these benefits, this study paper explores whether oral exams can increase student motivation to learn and performance in the class. In this study, 560 engineering students in 6 classes were given oral exams and were surveyed about their experience. In one of the classes with 37 students, a controlled trial was performed with students randomly assigned to 3 groups. After the first written midterm one group had an oral exam with the instructor, one group had an oral exam with the Teaching Assistant (TA), and the last group did not have an oral exam. In the second written midterm the group with the instructor increased their grade by 14%, the group with the TA increased by 3%, and the group with no oral exam had a negligible change in performance. Potential reasons for the larger impact of an oral exam with the instructor were explored with one possibility being increased student motivation. A survey question about student motivation was administered to all 560 students in the study for which a majority of the oral exams were administered by TAs or other Instructional Assistants. Overall 338 students responded to the survey question and 70% of them Strongly Agreed or Agreed that the oral exams increased their motivation to learn. A correlation analysis was run using the demographic data of the students. First generation status had a statistically significant correlation with p=.031, where 78% of first generation students indicated that oral exams increased their motivation to learn compared to 66% for students that are not first generation. Other statistically significant correlations occurred with Cumulative GPA (p=.001) and Term GPA (p=.003), but with a negative correlation coefficient. The students that Strongly Agreed that the oral exam increased their motivation to learn had the lowest GPA (Cumulative GPA = 3.23 and Term GPA=2.89). These 3 statistically significant correlations all indicate that students who may likely benefit from more academic support had a larger increase in motivation following an oral exam. Hypotheses are presented for the reasons for student gains following oral exams, and proposals are made for the roles of Instructional Assistants and instructors in future studies and classroom implementations.
AU - Nathan Delson
AU - Saharnaz Baghdadchi
AU - Maziar Ghazinejad
AU - Marko Lubarda
AU - Mia Minnes
AU - Alex Phan
AU - Curt Schurgers
AU - Huihui Qi
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Can Oral Exams Increase Student Performance and Motivation?
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41127
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41127
ER -