Exam Style: Open vs. Closed Notes John S. Colton, Department of Physics University of WisconsinLa Cr

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Exam Style Open vs. Closed NotesJohn S. Colton,
Department of PhysicsUniversity of Wisconsin-La
Crosse

• Background/Motivation
• 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

• Preliminary Interviews Fall 2006
• 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

• Interesting Observations
• 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??

Significant Differences Open vs. Closed