Exam wrappers are a way to turn an exam into an authentic learning experience for students; or, as assistant professor Cathal Kearney in the Biomedical Engineering department describes, they are a more effective way to “close the loop” on exams compared to his previous strategy of providing students with exam solutions. Read more about his initial experiences with this metacognitive tool to help students continue learning after the exam ends.  

 

 

 

What inspired you to use exam wrappers in your course? 

I’ve always been a little dissatisfied with how sharing exam solutions with students has played out in my course. It’s felt a bit like a trivia night, where everyone just cares about whether they got the right answers and what their score is. It also felt unidirectional: me giving students the answers and explanations--often in the same way that I did the first time, which may not have worked for some students—and students just sitting there.   

In fall 2022, my students had just finished an open book exam and scores were not what I or students had expected. I had even gotten emails from students saying they were embarrassed about how they had performed, that it didn’t reflect their level of engagement in the course. I mentioned this in passing to a CTL faculty member I ran into on campus, who then mentioned exam wrappers. This sounded like a proactive way to do something about it for me and for the students. After, she emailed me a few examples, and I decided I would adapt one for use in my course that week.  

How did you use them in your course? 

I made a brief Moodle announcement that we would be taking the next class to go over the exams and that they would have the opportunity to earn back up to 7 points on the exam. For the first time, every single student showed up to class to get their exams back that day. I gave them this handout and asked them to group up and work through their exams to identify mistakes, why they made those mistakes, and what they would do in the future to avoid making those mistakes. There are also some reflective questions at the end about their strengths and weaknesses on the exam and what they would do differently. I spent the class time walking around, guiding students, and answering questions.  

How did it go the first time/what was the impact? 

I overheard a lot of students really talking through the problems with their peers, having those “aha” moments as they heard different explanations from them. They were locked in the entire class period, and excited to get it done. A number of students came up to me at the end of the class and said they felt like they understood things better or it made more sense to them now.  

Looking at their exam wrappers afterwards, I think the self-reflection was the most beneficial aspect of the exam wrappers. Students had some insightful answers for what they’d do differently in the future:

  • Next time, I want to plan out my responses better and go about answering them in a more systematic way. This will help my ideas flow better and make sure that I have every part and detail for my work to be clear and concise
  • For future exams, I plan to take my time to ensure that I read each question fully and thoroughly. There were multiple times on this exam where I skipped over important key words while reading the questions that would've helped me achieve the best answer 
  • I was nervous going into the exam and mismanaged my time eventually running out of time and panicking to put down an answer for one part of a question 

I think the process helped them have some ownership over their learning. I became a backup, a safety net, and this gave them the confidence that they have the knowledge needed. For me, exam wrappers closed the loop on the exam process in way that sharing solutions with students has never done before. 

What are your next steps? 

I am definitely going to use them again in other courses, particularly after the first exam. It takes students awhile to get used to the style of exams in Engineering/this course, and this could help them with that process. I might make them part of an optional recitation/discussion section instead of doing in class, but I’ll record those sessions for students to watch later. I’m still deciding, as part of what they got out of exam wrappers was from talking through the exam problems with other students.