in collaboration with Julie Sevenans
Students who engage with the subject matter between classes process it more thoroughly than students who wait until the last minute to cram before the exam. Looking for a way to encourage students to open their books regularly? Ask them to come up with an exam question about the subject matter on their own. They obviously also have to provide the answer to the question. Research suggests that letting students generate their own exam questions has positive effects on their learning process (for an overview, see: Song, 2016) – and as a lecturer, you may get something out of it, too!
What’s in it for the students?
Coming up with exam questions and answers can have several different positive effects.
- The assignment activates students when processing a text. To come up with a good question and a model answer, students need to connect different parts of a text and think about what’s really important. This in-depth processing also enables students to solve ‘new’ questions better afterwards.
- It is useful for students to reflect on what makes a ‘good’ exam question and what a ‘model answer’ actually looks like. It gives insight into the expectations and learning objectives of the lecturer. Feedback is crucial here: which questions are appropriate for the exam? Which ones would you never ask, and why not? How would you draw up a correction key?
- You can encourage students to solve one another’s questions (after checking that the questions are suitable and appropriate). This allows them to gauge how far they have progressed in processing the learning content.
What’s in it for me?
This process is also instructive for you as a lecturer.
- You will gain insight into the way students process the learning content. Do their questions show that they can distinguish key information from secondary information? What do they already understand well, and where do they make mistakes? This knowledge allows you to guide students in a targeted way, for example by repeating a lesson component or by providing extra practice materials.
- You will also learn what students expect from the exam. You can adjust their expectations to better prepare them for the exam process, regardless of the specific exam questions.
- The students, on their end, help build a collection of practice materials that can be made available to all students. Based on the questions received, you can create a representative sample exam more quickly. Regarding validity, you will have more questions about different content areas or competences. And, who knows, you might get inspiration for the questions on the actual exam!
Let’s get to work!
There are some things you should bear in mind when setting this assignment.
- Make clear to the students what type of questions/answers you expect and what you consider to be a good question/answer. Are you looking for multiple-choice questions, open knowledge questions, essay questions or case studies – and what are the criteria? There are many possibilities, but the instructions must be clear. Illustrate what you have in mind with some examples.
- Also be sure to indicate the nature of the assignment. Is it an optional exercise or a compulsory assignment (an admission requirement for the exam), and what are the criteria?
- Motivate students by explaining why you are setting this assignment and pointing out the benefits. Show that you care about what they come up with. You might even consider including the best, most relevant or most original question in the actual exam. Do note, however, that even a practical application question can become a knowledge question if students can learn it by heart.
Feedback and remedial teaching
The greatest learning effects occur when you give students feedback. You can do this in different ways.
- Show examples of what you consider to be suitable or less suitable questions/answers, and why exactly. This can be done individually, or you can choose to discuss specific questions in class.
- The assignment can also be repeated throughout the semester. The first time around, students tend to come up with questions that are too simplistic. They often focus too much on pure knowledge and too little on interpreting or applying that knowledge. Through repeated guidance, they will become more familiar with the complexity of a real exam question.
Online and/or offline?
Students can easily submit their questions on paper or through Blackboard. There are also many ways to develop this type of assignment digitally.
- Another option (paper or digital) is to work with a one-minute paper at the end of class. This is a good way to let students reflect on the material: ‘Write down two exam questions that you think are representative of the past class’. Collect these questions and review them to verify whether the students have grasped the essence of the class.
- In discussion rooms or wikis on Blackboard, students can share their questions, solve one another’s questions and discuss the answers. Be sure to provide clear instructions on how to use the platform. For specific advice on how to deal with this, see the tip on agreeing on guidelines for online discussion forums (in Dutch) and the tip on electronic discussion groups (in Dutch).
- Digital platforms such as PeerWise can be interesting if you want students to come up with multiple-choice questions. On such platforms, students can easily post several multiple-choice questions, and their fellow students can answer them. This way, students create their own online database of learning materials over the years.
Want to know more?
- For UAntwerp staff (login required): Infocenter onderwijs. Good practice: Studenten zelf vragen laten opstellen voor een sterker engagement.
- Blerkom, D. L. V., Blerkom, M. L. V., & Bertsch, S. (2006). Study Strategies and Generative Learning: What Works? Journal of College Reading and Learning, 37(1), 7–18.
- McQueen, H. A., Shields, C., Finnegan, D. J., Higham, J., & Simmen, M. W. (2014). PeerWise provides significant academic benefits to biological science students across diverse learning tasks, but with minimal instructor intervention. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 42(5), 371–381.
- Poot, R., De Kleijn, R. A. M., Van Rijen, H. V. M., & Van Tartwijk, J. (2017). Students generate items for an online formative assessment: Is it motivating? Medical Teacher, 39(3), 315–320.
- Song, D. (2016). Student-generated questioning and quality questions: A literature review. Research Journal of Educational Studies and Review, 2(5), 58–70.