Student Examination Performance Research Articles

Higher and lower-order cognitive skills: The case of chemistry

A major driving force in the current effort to reform science education is the conviction that it is vital for our students to develop their higher-order cognitive skills capacity in order to function effectively in our modem, complex science and technology-based society. In line with this rationale, this study focuses on the use of examinations for studying student performance in chemistry examination on items that require higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) or lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS). This usage of examinations is explored and demonstrated via “post-factum” data analysis of two case studies: the General Examination (in chemistry) and the Panhellenic Chemistry Competition administered natinally in Greece for secondary-school graduates in 1991. The main findings were: (a) students performed considerably lower on questions requiring HOCS than on those requiring LOCS; (b) performance on questions requiring HOCS may not correlate with that on questions requiring LOCS for which affective factors, LOCS-orientation in teaching and the extent of prior examination preparation may be responsible; and (c) examinations that contain intems of both types can be effectively used to identify HOCS- and LOCS- students within various contexts of chemistry teaching. Based on the above and previous related studies, the fostering of students' HOCS by appropriate teaching and assessment trategies is advocated.

Interactive Computer Assessment of Large Groups: Student Responses

SUMMARY A trial of computerized formal assessment using an interactive program, Question Mark Designer for Windows, resulted in a highly favourable reaction to the method of assessment. Completion times, questionnaire responses and informal interview data collected from a sample (116 respondents) of the 150 students who took the exam suggested that this method may enhance student examination performance in terms of speed of response and a reduction in perceived examination stress.

Library use and academic achievement among medical students

Many factors play a part in determining the performance of students in examinations, but the extent to which students use library facilities does not appear to have been recently considered as a factor, in medicine or in any other academic subject. In this study, the number of books borrowed from the library by undergraduate medical students was used as a simple measure of library use, and significant differences in book-borrowing levels were found between students in different years of the medical course, students from different regions of the world, and men and women students. In the first year of the course, students who borrowed most also performed best in their end-of-year examinations, and this association was only partly explained by regional differences. No such association was found among final-year students, suggesting different study habits and different assessment criteria in the clinical years of the course.

Dimensions of clinical competence as conceptualized by medical school faculty.

This study identified dimensions of clinical competence underlying faculty ratings of fourth-year student performance in a standardized patient examination and assessed the impact of these dimensions on faculty pass/fail decisions. Content review coupled with exploratory factor analysis was used to group 17 of 25 specific behavioral rating categories into four homogeneous clusters. Confirmatory factor analysis refined the clusters into four unidimensional scales that included 14 of the original ratings. The dimensions reflected relating to the patient, problem-solving skills, medical history skills, and physical examination skills. The factor structure was cross-validated in a separate data set. Logistic regression indicated problem solving was the only independent predictor of a student passing the exercise.

Computer‐Assisted Distance Learning, Part II: Examination Performance of Students On and Off Campus

AbstractTechnical Japanese courses taught to engineering students at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison were offered to professionals at corporations and government laboratories around the United States over a period of nine semesters via audiographic teleconferencing and interactive satellite broadcasts. Examination scores by students from three groups (campus, audiographics, satellite) were analyzed statistically on a semester‐by‐semester basis. In only two of the eight semesters in which a course was offered via audio‐graphics was there a discernible difference (at the 5% level) between the scores of the audiographics students and the scores of the campus students. In one instance the scores of the students on campus were higher; in the other instance the scores of the students at the remote sites were higher. Over the five semesters in which a course was offered via interactive satellite broadcasts there was no semester in which the difference in scores between the satellite group and the campus group was statistically significant (at the 5% level). The results of this study support the assertion that students at remote sites in a well‐planned distance education program can achieve a performance comparable to that of students who receive on‐site instruction.

Computer-aided learning in accounting; educational and managerial perspectives

Within the context of accounting education, this paper explores the impact of computer-aided learning (CAL) on students' learning experience, on teaching costs and on staff time available for research activity. The findings of two experiments are reported. The findings of the first experiment suggest that there was no significant adverse effect on the examination perfofmance of those students who opted to use CAL rather than attend lectures on management accounting. However, questionnaire responses from the students who opted to use CAL suggest that CAL had an adverse effect on their interest in accounting. The findings of the second experiment suggest use of CAL in a supplementary role did not improve student's examination performance in a course on financial reporting. The analysis in the paper suggests that CAL, when used in a supplantive role, has the potential, in certain circumstances, to reduce costs and to increase the staff time available for research activity. The paper concludes that if academi...

Effect of anxiety on performance in multiple choice examination.

Negative scoring of incorrectly answered multiple choice questions has logistic advantages, but may disadvantage anxious students. We therefore attempted to observe the effects of positive and negative marking of true/false questions on the examination performance of medical students with different levels of anxiety. Third-year medical students (141 men, 71 women) completed a Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory before an examination in pathology in 1994. Students knew there would be penalties for wrong answers in the first half of the examination and no penalties in the second half. Performance on the two halves was compared and effects of levels of anxiety assessed. Students reported slightly higher trait anxiety than American norms. Women students reported higher levels of anxiety than men, and levels for both genders were indicative of a moderately stressful situation. Trait anxiety was not associated with performance in either the negatively or positively marked halves of the examination. For women students, but not men, lower state anxiety was positively associated with higher performance on the negatively marked half of the examination (r = 0.29), but accounted for only 8% of the variance in scores. In our study, anxiety was correlated only slightly with results of a negatively marked examination. We conclude that anxious medical students are not unduly disadvantaged by this method of marking.

Some evidence on the determinants of student performance in the University of Malaya introductory accounting course

This study develops model to identify factors to explain student examination performance in the first-level tertiary accounitng course at the University of Malaya. The absence of Published Malaysian research on this area has been the prime motiviation for this study. In addition, the influence of urban-rural residential status of students is studied: this is a unique feature of developing economies, hence neglected in studies of developed countries. Using stepwise multiple regression analysis, three academic factors are found to significantly explain 66% of the variations in performance. Having studied high-school accounting, mathematics and grades in high-school econemics are important predictors of performance. However, the socio-demographic variables of gender and residential status do not contribute signficantly to performance variablilty. The study's model compares favourably with the resluts of other published findings in the USA, Australia and Hong Kong.

Validating lecturer effectiveness questionnaires in accounting

The use of student questionnaires to evaluate lecturers in higher education raises the issue of the validity of any measures that might be developed from the results. This paper reports on a lecturer effectiveness questionnaire (LEQ) given to students of accounting courses at Salford University. The main finding is that effectiveness scores are related to student views on important attributes of lecturing (eg. explanation of aims and objectives, choice of teaching aids, creating an interest in the course); but that the scores are also related to less desirable feaures such as lecture size and subject matter. The study also examines the relationship between examinations marks and questionnaire scores on the grounds that students should perform better in examinations for courses where the lecturer is considered to be effective. The study found a midly negative relationship between student approval and examination performance.

From fresher to finalist1

This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of the determinants of student performance on undergraduate accounting degree examinations. The educational background, demographic characteristics and financial/investment characteristics of a group of undergraduate students were determined in an attempt to explain differences in student performance in both first year and third year examinations. The results indicate that few of these background variables had a significant impact on examination performance and that the best predictor of third year performance was in fact performance in the first year examinations.

Success Profiles for Student Examination Performance in a Large-Lecture Management Course: An Empirical Study

Two studies of student performance on multiple-choice examinations in a large-lecture introductory management course are reported. Study 1 used focus groups to isolate potentially meaningful patterns differentiating high and low performers. Study 2 used discriminant analysis to further examine these patterns. Results indicate that students' undergraduate majors, selected study habits, process variables, and learning styles all make a difference in their examination performance. The findings regarding study habits suggest a number of specific guidelines to help students better prepare for large-lecture multiple-choice examinations. The findings overall raise a number of additional questions worthy of further research and instructional consideration.

Effect of Position-Within-Sequence on Case Performance in a Multiple-Stations Examination Using Standardized-Patient Cases

Several recent studies of multiple-stations examinations of clinical competence have found a "sequence effect," which refers to an observed improvement in performance across a sequence of examination cases, so that performance on stations encountered later in the sequence is significantly superior to that on stations encountered earlier. The present study was conducted to assess the possibility of a sequence effect in the multiple-stations performance-based examination given to senior medical students at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Unlike the previous studies, the present study assessed the sequence effect at the level of the individual case, the level at which the effect creates a serious problem for score interpretation. Analyses were performed on scores obtained from checklists completed by standardized patients and on scores to written questions following the patient encounter for each standardized-patient case for the classes of 1989 and 1990. In general, the results showed no improvement in case scores across successive cases in the examination. There was no evidence for a sequence effect on student examination performance.

Effectiveness of Mastery Learning Programs: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of findings from 108 controlled evaluations showed that mastery learning programs have positive effects on the examination performance of students in colleges, high schools, and the upper grades in elementary schools. The effects appear to be stronger on the weaker students in a class, and they also vary as a function of mastery procedures used, experimental designs of studies, and course content. Mastery programs have positive effects on student attitudes toward course content and instruction but may increase student time on instructional tasks. In addition, self-paced mastery programs often reduce the completion rates in college classes.

Intertopical ordering effects: The case of managerial accounting

This article investigates the effect of toplcal versus random question sequencing on student examination performance. Two hundred eighty-two introductory managerial accounting students were administered versions of examinations during a semester that differed with respect to question order. Approximately one-fourth received all ordered examinations, one-fourth received all random examinations, one-fourth received first ordered, then random, and finally ordered examinations, and the final one-fourth received first random, then ordered, and finally random examinations. GPA was a covariate factor. No evidence was found to support the hypotheses that (1) question order within examinations or (2) changes in exam format over time has any effect on student performance.

Improving examination performance through the clenched fist technique

A brief review of the literature pertaining to the use of hypnosis in an educational setting precedes a description of one particular hypnotic approach involving the use of the clenched fist as a conditioned trigger. The efficacy of this technique is explored through a study of the examination performance of high school students. Comparison of examination results before and after use of the clenched fist technique indicates that this simple approach is capable of producing positive outcomes.

Effects of sex and alphabetical listing on examination performance of medical students.

An analysis of examination performance by second-year medical students was undertaken in order to investigate suspected correlations with sex and surname initial. On genetics questions women gained 8.6% higher marks than men, a highly significant difference reflected also in their superior performance overall. Failure rates of men, but not women students in genetics showed a significant positive correlation with alphabetical listing and ranged from 14% in the A-C region to 33% in the region T-Z. Distinction grades in genetics showed a significant negative relationship with alphabetical listing especially among women, ranging from 50% among the As to 13% in the J-S region, rising again to 22% at T-Z. The alphabetically based trend in men's failures in genetics was confirmed by their results in the whole examination, although the two marks did not correlate at an individual level. In contrast, among women achievement correlated reasonably well in the two assessments.

Influences on the examination performance of medical students: the pressure of other examinations.

Third-year medical students in Birmingham sat two examinations at times varying from 10 days apart to the same day. The influence of the proximity of two examinations on performance in the second examination is explored, together with other influences on examination performance. The sex of the student is the most significant discriminating factor, but proximity of examinations also affects marks in the second examination. We recommend, as did Birmingham students 10 years ago, that examinations should be separated by at least 5 days.

The examination performance of adult students in higher education: The role of entry qualifications, gender and course‐related factors

(1986). The examination performance of adult students in higher education: The role of entry qualifications, gender and course‐related factors. Irish Educational Studies: Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 212-229.

Medical chemistry: evaluation of active and problem-oriented teaching methods.

In the preclinical phase of basic medical education at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, chemistry extends over 16 weeks and changes were made to the teaching methods during 7 of those weeks--one in organic chemistry and 6 in intermediary metabolism. The number of lectures was reduced and problem-oriented group tasks wee introduced instead which required a higher level of student responsibility for individual learning. Teaching and group tasks were designed to give the students a better understanding of the biochemical processes in their entirety as well as the way these are controlled in the human body. From this base the students will be enabled to discuss and understand physiological, pathological and medical phenomena. Experience and results show that student performance in examinations improved significantly, that students acquired a better understanding and a more comprehensive grasp of the subject, and a noticeably more positive interest in medical chemistry. They remember approximately 60% more a few years after completing the course than do students who have been instructed in a more traditional manner, and although the load of the teachers has increased by some 20% in respect of scheduled time, the instructors have gained in improved student contact and a wider knowledge of their subjects. The results have remained the same for each course since the change was introduced in 1977. Due to new admission criteria, more students now have less knowledge of mathematics and chemistry, and more students have social circumstances that make independent studies more attractive (family obligations and financial obligations).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Rapid nucleic acid sequencing methodsalternative approaches to facilitating learning

As part of an advanced course on recombinant DNA technology, our students are required to understand the underlying principles relating to a variety of rapid sequencing techniques for both DNA and RNA. To assess the effectiveness of the learning, the students are requested to (i) produce written accounts of the experimental protocols for each method and (ii) demonstrate their understanding of each technique by correctly interpreting schematic gel electrophoretic band patterns. These band patterns are generated by computer and can be displayed in a variety of presentation formats including print, print plus scrambled print, interactive computer-based instruction, and high resolution computer graphics. The results of such an approach have been very encouraging indeed, both from the point of view of student motivation and examination performance and student/staff interest level