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Give me a coffee break! Pilot study on improving exam performance and reducing student stress

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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

16

DOI

10.18260/1-2--40977

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/40977

Download Count

1056

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Paper Authors

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Nelson Granja Universidad San Francisco de Quito

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Miguel Andrés Guerra Universidad San Francisco de Quito

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Miguel Andrés is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Civil Engineering and Architecture at Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, in Ecuador. Miguel Andrés is a civil engineer from USFQ (2009), was awarded a MSc in Civil Engineering – Construction Engineering and Management at Iowa State University (Fulbright scholar, 2012)and his PhD in Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech (2019), as well as two Graduate Certificate in Engineering Education and Future Professoriate.

(i) ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE: Miguel Andrés was Project Manager of PREINGESA where he has directed construction projects in the development of urban infrastructure for urbanizations such as earthworks, drinking water works, sewerage, underground electrical cables and fiber optics, roads, aqueducts, water reservoirs, housing construction, among others. He was also a Project Management Associate for a Habitat For Humanity housing project in the USA.

(ii) RESEARCH: Miguel Andrés' research focuses on (1) decision-making for the design and construction of infrastructure projects, (2) the planning of sustainable, smart and resilient cities, and (3) the development of engineers who not only have solid technical and practical knowledge, but also social understanding for, through infrastructure, address local and global challenges on humanitarian, environmental, social and equity issues.

(iii) EDUCATION RESEARCH: Related to STEM education, Miguel Andrés is developing and applying contemporary pedagogies and tools for innovation and student empowerment to address climate change. Currently, Miguel Andrés is developing teaching and evaluation pedagogy that directs a philosophy of seeking excellence as a pillar to eradicate corruption.

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Vanessa Guerra University of Virginia

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Abstract

Traditional exams are widely used to assess students’ acquired knowledge in engineering courses, and although traditional exams have a purpose and a role, it is also known that they bring different levels of stress and anxiety to students, which can result in an inaccurate reflection of students’ knowledge or even poor performance. Although research shows this type of exam may not be adequate for all types of students, little is known about how to improve traditional exam assessment experiences. This pilot study aims to design an intervention—a coffee break during an exam—to help reduce students’ stress and anxiety levels and improve their exam performance. To assess the intervention, the authors used a qualitative approach to learn about students’ perceptions of the impact on their stress levels of including a coffee break in the exam. Open- and closed-ended questions were conducted during four phases: the days prior to the exam, and during the examination—before, during, and after the coffee break. Results of this pilot study suggest that introducing a coffee break during a traditional exam lowers students’ levels of stress, reduces their fear of failure, and improves students’ performance. The authors discuss the possible factors driving the results, next steps and explore the avenues academia could take to form better assessment methods. Implications for research and practice are provided.

Granja, N., & Guerra, M. A., & Guerra, V. (2022, August), Give me a coffee break! Pilot study on improving exam performance and reducing student stress Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40977

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