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Examining the Efficacy of Exam Wrappers in a Computer Science Course

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Conference

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual Conference

Publication Date

July 26, 2021

Start Date

July 26, 2021

End Date

July 19, 2022

Conference Session

Studies of Classroom Assessment: Exam Wrappers, Equitable Grading, Test Anxiety, and Use of Reflection

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods

Page Count

20

DOI

10.18260/1-2--37120

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/37120

Download Count

633

Paper Authors

biography

Karen C. Davis Miami University

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Karen C. Davis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Miami University. Her research interests include database design, query processing and optimization, data warehousing, and computing education. She has published more than 50 papers, most of which are co-authored with her students. She has advised over 100 senior design project students and more than 40 MS/PhD theses/projects in the area of database systems. She was awarded the ASEE Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education in 2016. Dr. Davis received a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Loyola University, New Orleans in 1985 and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette in 1987 and 1990, respectively.

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Abstract

An exam wrapper is a guided reflection activity that students undertake following an exam. Students are typically asked to reflect on their preparation, performance, and plans for preparing for the next exam. The efficacy of exam wrappers for reflective learning has been established in STEM disciplines such as physics, biology, chemistry, and math. Very little research in using exam wrappers in engineering and computing courses has been conducted to date. Two contributions of this paper are (1) a characterization of the recent findings in engineering and computing education literature on the efficacy of exam wrappers, and (2) an analysis of the question types used on those exam wrappers. A third contribution of the paper is an examination of the efficacy of exam wrappers in an upper-level computer science course. The study investigates the relationship between student performance on two midterm exams before and after introducing exam wrappers. Student responses about study habits and reasons for losing points on exams are examined as well. We perform quantitative and qualitative analysis over performance and perception data, respectively. We conclude that exam wrappers can benefit students in both learning gains (as measured by exam performance) and by employing metacognition to improve study habits and behaviors. The paper also contributes to the study of student performance and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic; in the term under study, the course was taught in a synchronous, remote learning format with an active learning component and online exams.

Davis, K. C. (2021, July), Examining the Efficacy of Exam Wrappers in a Computer Science Course Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37120

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