The attached paper, “Improving Examinations in a University Science Course: a Cooperative Exercise Between Two Academics” was co-written with Diane Grayson. It was submitted to the Journal of College Science Teaching in 2000, but rejected.
ABSTRACT
Examinations are a significant feature of university life. To a large extent, the whole of a student’s life is geared towards passing examinations. For this reason, what students choose to learn will be driven largely by what they expect is going to be in the examination. This is particularly true when the bulk of their final mark is derived from the examination, as is the case in most university courses, particularly in the sciences. Thus it is appropriate that a great deal of thought and care should go into the setting of examinations. However, few academics receive any educational training, including on how best to set examinations. Often examinations are set in a rush, with no pedagogical guidelines available to direct their design and construction. Our concern with this state of affairs prompted us to look into how examinations, and written examinations in particular, might be improved. One of us designed a tool to help the examination writer create a balanced examination paper, well-matched to the goals of a course, and the other used the tool in the setting of his examination papers. In this paper we describe the tool, the experience of using it and give suggestions for how it might be used in future. On the basis of our experience, we reflect on how other aspects of assessment in university science courses might be improved.