Prior to a scheduled exam, student prepare a study game plan. They describe how they would normally study for an exam in this course. Then they select two research-based study strategies, not regularly used, and agree to try them out as they prepare for the
I am proposing an assignment that grows out of an interesting piece of research (Neu, 2015) in which students collected images of those they’d approach and avoid as potential group members. When interviewed, students identified the social cues, conveyed by features such as hair style,
Students take notes on an assigned chapter—one page front and back. In addition to these notes that preview the content, students prepare reflective notes that connect the current reading with other content and generate questions about it. Both sets of notes are turned in and
Students take a 10-question quiz at the beginning of class, and it’s graded immediately. The instructor provides some of the answers; the rest are discussed with consideration of the pros and cons of various answers. Students take notes on the quiz during this discussion. The
In every class session a different student is assigned to take notes. These notes are posted before the next class session.
An interesting variety of different types of quiz questions and formats are used in two philosophy courses with the goal of encouraging students to come to class on time, prepared, and ready for discussion.
Every course has assignments, but do they get the attention they deserve or do the same versions end up in the syllabus year after year? How much variety is there in the assignments students complete, in degree programs or even across their years at the
Students correct missed questions on their exams and reflect on the reasons why the questions were missed. They examine their study strategies and exam preparation behaviors and then propose what they should do differently to improve the outcome on the next exam.
The main assignment is a traditional research paper, in this case one for a psychology research methods course. Drafts of each of the paper’s four main sections are due separately and returned with teacher feedback. The final version of the paper is submitted with a
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Editor’s note: The following is part of an ongoing resource collection called Assignments of Note. For a related handout for students on study strategies, see here.
Prior to a scheduled exam, students prepare a study game plan. They describe how they would normally study for an exam in this course. Then they select two research-based study strategies, not regularly used, and agree to try them out as they prepare for the exam. (See the Resources section below for references to lists of strategies students might choose from.) They log their actual exam preparation activities. When they know their exam score, they assess the effectiveness of their study plan and implementation of it.
The assignment has four written components:
The learning potential of this assignment is lost if students prepare the component parts all at once or after the exam. To prevent that and the management issues associated with having each part submitted individually, teachers share due dates for each component and then randomly select students to submit the component on the designated date. Once seen, those parts can be returned to the student and graded when the completed assignment is submitted.
The assignment parts can be detailed or streamlined. Even a very streamlined version will provide a more analysis of study events than most students typically complete. The assignment described here is similar to one Steiner (2016) developed and used in a first-year seminar course. In that course, students develop, implement, and assess a study plan they use to prepare for an exam in one of their other courses. A copy of the actual assignment is included in an appendix to Steiner’s article (previously discussed here):
Steiner, H. H., (2016). The strategy project: Promoting self-regulated learning through an authentic assignment. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 28(2), 271–282.
Another Assignment of Note, the post-exam review, offers a related experience in which students correct exam questions they missed and consider the effectiveness of the study strategies they used in light of their performance. Each of these assignments shares the same goals: helping students understand the implications of when, how, and what they study and then use that self-acquired knowledge to make better study choices.
The goals of the assignment cannot be achieved if students believe their grade depends on developing a wonderful study plan and then saying they did everything they’d planned to do. The criteria for grading must rest on the student’s attention to the details of the assignment and the thoroughness of their analysis, not what, how, or how much they studied.
The assignment could be an extra credit option with the justification being that the insights derived from the assignment are more likely if the student completes it with at least a modicum of interest in learning something about how they study.
At list of 16 study strategies (most of them research based) appears in
Andaya, G., Hrabak, V. D., Reyes, S. T., Diaz, R. E., & McDonald, K. K. (2017). Examining the effectiveness of a post exam review activity to promote self-regulation in introductory biology students. Journal of College Science Teaching, 46(4), 84–92.
Another, lengthy but well-organized article (previously discussed here) reviews research on 10 study strategies:
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266
