Exam Review

12/5/2013

Having just had our end of year exams for year 10, as a department we decided to review the exam before giving the exam papers back to them.

This decision came about when one member of the department commented on how the students stop listening as soon as they know their mark, and we joked about how annoyed the students would be if we withheld their marks as long as possible.

After some more serious contemplation of this idea, we thought about the fact that they do stop listening once they have their papers back, and we decided to actually review the paper as a class before giving the students their individual papers.

We all made sure we had an electronic copy of the exam papers, and projected this on to the board. Since we have interactive projectors on to whiteboards, we could then write in the actual answers on the board as if it was on the actual exam. With my group we needed to review almost all the questions on the exam (whereas other sets focussed on a few questions), so I got some students to answer particular questions, and for those that they all struggled with, I showed them how to do it. On reflection, if I did this again, I would get the students to the front of the class to answer questions on the board.

The students did not like the idea when I first told them we were going to look through the exam before they saw their papers, but for the majority it was definitely more beneficial to do the review this way than going through it once they have their papers back. One student in another set actually said that although it was annoying at first, she felt she took a lot more from it.

This is definitely an approach I would be happy to develop some more, and we shall see if it becomes a part of our department feedback process.

2 Comments

talktofile

12/5/2013 02:24:46 am

This is a similar thought process behind a couple of ways I review exam papers:

I often leave the total off their paper so they have to add and review question by question. This leads to discussions and comparisons between students.

They have to RAG each question against a topic list so they think about a major misunderstanding or silly error or even that they have no clue at all! Also they have an instant revision list to focus on.

Most importantly the personalised feedback. This was the thinking behind making video solutions of the paper. In class or at home students watch model video solutions only of the questions they need help on. They correct the paper and then at some later point have to answer similar questions to demonstrate their understanding.

interactive-maths link

12/5/2013 04:33:49 am

I have used the video solutions idea myself a few times, and it has proven extremely popular with my students. The opportunity for them to review only the questions they stuggled with, as well as being able to spend as much time as they individually need really creates a personalised approach to the feedback, as you have said.

I haven't thought about leaving the marks off their papers before, that sounds like an interesting idea. I guess you could incorporate an element of self-marking, which will give them a much deeper understanding of what is required of them. And then at the end you can compare what they gave themselves against what they actually got (and knowing my students they would be far too self critical!)

Exam Review

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Dan Rodriguez-Clark

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