Abstract:

“Initially I thought the correct answer was C, but my answers to the three previous multiple-choice questions were C and I didn’t think you would have four correct C answers in a row … so I chose B”. This statement by one of my students, along with a troubling downward trend in the results of the multiple-choice section of assessments, was the motivation to investigate strategies that students use to answer multiple-choice questions.

At the undergraduate level, mastering concepts, and providing evidence of learning, is challenging for many students. As instructors, therefore, we need to be aware of the cognitive challenges our students face in their learning process. While there are many different types of cognitive challenges (Chew and Cerbin 2021), the development of metacognitive and self-regulation skills is particularly important for incoming first-year students.

One metacognitive tool implemented by a number of different disciplines is the exam wrapper. Exam wrappers are designed to promote the self-regulated learning process and consist of a number of brief questions directly related to an exam that students have submitted. In general, the questions fall under three categories; reflecting on their results, comparing their results to their expectations, and identifying adjustments for the next exam.

In addition to the development of metacognitive tools, there have been a number of significant pedagogical innovations over the past few decades. Classroom experiments, case-methods, flipped classrooms, videos, podcasts, problem-based learning (PBL), team-based learning (TBL), and collaborative/cooperative learning are some of the diverse teaching and experiential learning approaches developed over the years.

In this paper, through a thematic analysis of students’ exam wrapper responses and answers to semi-structured interview questions, we identify some of the predominant strategies for answering multiple-choice questions and preparing for exams. As a pedagogical intervention, just prior to writing an exam, students work collaboratively in an active learning classroom (ALC). Using the technology available in the ALC, groups of five or six students create their own multiple-choice questions. With a better understanding of these strategies, combined with the collaborative ALC exercises, the objective is two-fold:
(1) raise student awareness of the importance of developing their metacognitive and self-regulation skills at the outset of their post-secondary journey,
(2) help improve the learning outcomes when using multiple-choice assessments.

References:
[1] S.L. Chew, and W.J. Cerbin, “The cognitive challenges of effective teaching,” The Journal of Economic Education, vol. 52, no, 1, pp. 17-40, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.2020.1845266

Keywords:

Active learning classrooms, exam wrappers, collaborative learning, metacognitive skills.