Tara Allen
Contact: Karyn Turla
A technique to increase engagement between individual students and the instructor after an exam. This allows the instructor to provide individual support to students by discussing course content based on questions they missed and study strategies.
After an exam.
Instead of handing back graded exams to the students, students are encouraged to schedule individual exam review appointments with the instructor. During this meeting, students review their exam. The instructor is available to discuss the material, study strategies, etc. This technique fosters active student engagement with the content and interaction with the instructor with the goal of improving student learning.
I utilize this technique in all my classes (undergraduate, graduate, and professional school). After exams are graded, students receive an email about how to set up a 20–30-minute appointment to meet with me and review their exam. See below for the text about the exam review meetings. During these meetings, the student and I sit together as they look through their exam. I am available to answer questions over the content to help them learn. In my undergraduate courses, students can see their exam. While for courses for professional students, I print out their exam report and lead the discussion over content on which they missed questions. To facilitate scheduling these meetings in large classes, I post times on the Canvas calendar that students can sign up for on their own. While the students’ exams stay with me after the meeting, students can take notes of key concepts they need to go back and study.
In this course, exams are for assessment purposes only, so you will not get back your exam to keep. However, you can set up a meeting to review the questions that you missed and/or to discuss the course material or study strategies. To set up a meeting with me to review the questions that you missed on the exam, go to the Canvas Calendar and click on Find Appointment button. I have created many appointment times that you can sign up for on your own. These times are on several different days and times over the next few weeks. The appointment times in Canvas are for 20 minutes. If you look at all the available times and either cannot find one that works for you or they are all taken, then you can then email me and include several days/times that you are free to set up an appointment. Additionally, if you would like to schedule a time to discuss your exam and study strategies (which will require a longer appointment than 20 minutes), instead of signing up on the Canvas calendar for an appointment, you should email me several days/times that you are free to meet. I will then check my calendar and get back to you with a time that works for me. These exam review times will be in my office. It is important that you make a note of a meeting date/time when you schedule it. If you fail to show up for your appointment, I may not be able to reschedule due to the number of meetings that I need to have with students. Any meetings about exam 1 must take place prior to exam 2. After taking exam 2, no meetings will be scheduled for exam 1.
These meetings have allowed me to meet the students where they are and provide individual support. This has been effective in classes of all sizes, though with larger classes can be a significant time commitment. However, the benefit of connecting with students and identifying areas in which they need assistance is worthwhile. These meetings have been effective for students of all performance levels, though students with lower exam performance benefit the most as the instructor can provide encouragement, support and reminders to use resources (SI, UMKC Tutoring, office hours, etc.).