Exam Wrappers aka Error Analysis Exercises
Resources:
https://www.duq.edu/about/centers-and-institutes/center-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-and-learning/exam-wrappers
https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/examwrappers/
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/strategy-work-look-exam-wrappers/
https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/teaching-talk/exam-wrappers
Why: When students receive back a graded exam, they often focus on the single number/grade earned. While this focus is understandable, it can lead students to miss out on learning opportunities:
identifying their own individual areas of strength and weakness to guide further study;
reflecting on their preparation time and study strategies;
characterizing the nature of their mistakes to find any recurring patterns that could be addressed.
What: short handouts that students complete when an exam is returned to them. These exam wrappers direct students to review their performance and adapt their future studying. These exam wrappers may be the answer for students who need direction to help them improve their exam scores but aren’t sure where to start. 3 main questions to ask:
study skills used to prepare;
types of mistakes they made on the exam; and
what modifications might improve their performance on the next test.
We’ll break down the purpose of each question.
Question 1: Study skills used to prepare
Allows for reflection on what the student did right while studying and what they can improve on for next time. For example, if they write down that they crammed for the test, studied minimally, or studied concepts but not more specific problems, for example, they will begin to associate this method of studying with their presumably lower test grade. Alternatively, good study practices will support a higher test grade and let the student know they are studying optimally.
Question 2: Types of mistakes made on the exam
Self-analysis of which problems they answered incorrectly. Do they notice a trend with a certain concept or type of problem? Are any of the problems they had trouble with due to a possible lack of/inefficient method of studying? If so, they can look back to Question 1 and see where they might have fallen short in their studying habits (or lack thereof).
Question 3: Changes to improve performance on the next exam
Possible connections between how they study and what they had trouble with. If, through the prior two questions, they have found a trend (such as not studying a concept enough and subsequently missing most problems related to that concept on the test), the student knows how to direct their studying for the next exam.
When:
Students prepare for and take the exam using their typical study strategies.
Instructors hand out the exam wrappers alongside the exam results and class time (probably only approximately 10 minutes) is devoted to filling them out.
The instructor collects the exam wrappers. This step is necessary for a variety of reasons: if the instructor is making them an assignment, he/she needs to keep track of who has completed them. Additionally, collecting them and analyzing the students’ responses gives the instructional team a sense of strengths and weaknesses. To me, collection of the exam wrappers may depend on the class size and setting.
At the time when students should begin studying for the next exam, the instructor returns the completed exam wrappers (from the previous exam) to students so they can revisit their responses. Another option is to give students a few minutes to reread their exam wrappers and then take a few minutes for students to share effective study strategies.
How:
Sample questions for an exam wrapper:
Approximately how much time did you spend preparing for this exam? ______
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