Report #1
FIPP Activity Report
Funded by the Basic Skills Initiative
Name T. James Noyes
Date 10/12/2009
FIPP Partner Kate McLaughlin
Section #1318
Activity /Strategy Exam Debrief
Category IV. Feedback and Evaluation
Briefly describe the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction "Exam Debrief"
After the first exam, I asked to students to reflect on how best to prepare for
exams in the class, and to develop strategies to use in the future.
The students wrote at least 1 strategy on an index card, which I put a stamp on
to show that the student had participated in the exam debrief activity.
The students were instructed to hold onto and review their index card.
At the second exam, the students wrote about how well they fulfilled their goal
on the index card, and submitted it for 1 point of extra credit.
2. Set up & Supplies
(1) Index Cards
(2) Stamp & Ink Pad
(3) Set of cards and labeled tables for quickly and efficiently assigning students
to random groups.
3. Directions
A. After the exam, tell the students to:
Discuss the following with your group:
(1) What is the best thing that you did to prepare for the exam?
(2) What do you wish that you had done to prepare for the exam?
(3) What do you definitely want to remember to do to prepare for exam #2?
B. Call on each group to share their best answers with the class.
C. Tell the students to:
Write one strategy that you want to use to perform better on the next exam on
the index card.
They should keep the index card on the front of their binder to remind them of
their strategy.
If they bring the index card to the next exam and turn it in, then they will get 1
point of extra credit.
D. After exam #2, tell the students to write about how well they fulfilled their
strategy on the index card, and to turn in their index card for 1 point of extra
credit.
4. Conclusion See above.
What worked well? Many students like to talk about the exam after the exam; I liked the
fact that the exercise focused them on strategies instead of "what did you put" (the
answers). All the students agreed that completing the study guides that I provide is
essentialy for studying for the exams (even though they get no "points" or "credit" for
doing the study guides).
What would you change? I was happy with the results.
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Yes.
I saw better performance than I usually get on exam #2.
Please describe any student learning outcomes/changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy.
(1) I saw better student performance on exam #2. It may be related to this activity.
(2) I overheard several students talking about forming study groups.
(3) Students who left the class immediately after exam #1 were more likely to return to
the classroom after exam #2 (presumably because they missed out on the first extra
credit activity and hoped that I would do another one).