Designing a Strong Exam

EXAMPLES & STRATEGIES

Think About Your Options

Consider Your Testing Motives. When you provide examineeschances to exhibit their learning in a variety of ways, they value it. Different evaluation methods support various forms of learning. It is always a good idea to consider why an exam is the best method of assessment for the type of learning you want examineesto show, as opposed to projects, portfolios, papers, or presentations.

Consider Demonstrated Growth. When we make our exams “high stakes,” or counting for a significant portion of students’ overall grade, student anxiety and the desire to cheat will increase. Is there a way you can adjust your grade distribution so you emphasize student growth (improvement over time) rather than heavily weighing a single exam?

Think About Your Capacity. For some classes, like large lecture courses, exams are an appropriate assessment given an instructor’s capacity and resources. In these cases, designing an exam that includes higher-order questions (items that move beyond recall and comprehension) can be effective in assessing students’ critical thinking skills.

Craft Higher-Order Questions

Include More Application Questions. If we want examinees to combine knowledge in new ways, then we need to ask questions that prompt this type of thinking. When examinees are recalling facts or defining concepts on exams, they are not using their knowledge in a complex way. By incorporating application questions—vignettes, problems, or situations that require examinees to apply what they know to a novel setting—we are able to test for higher-level thinking.

Ask for Explanations or Examples. If your grading capacity allows, consider asking examinees to include an explanation on their thought process for their answer on a multiple-choice item. If you are administering an exam in a large class, think about incorporating explanation questions for a small number of multiple-choice questions, which could also minimize cheating.

For short answer or essay exams, ask examinees to include in their response a personal or real-life example that reflects the concept to initiate the application of their thinking, which can also minimize cheating since each example could be unique.

Have Examinees Write Exam Questions and Answers. Instead of designing the exam yourself, have examinees create their own exam questions and provide the answers, based on what they perceive to be the critical content in the course. This activity provides you with valuable feedback on whether examinees are studying the material you want them to know and not focusing on superfluous or minor details. Keep in mind that you will want to model how to write a good exam question for this activity.

Give Practice Opportunities

Use Retrieval Practice. Building in numerous opportunities for examineesto retrieve concepts or facts from memory increases their ability to remember that content long-term and then later apply that information in an exam. It is important that examineesexperience retrieval practice in the same format as the exam, so they become familiar with the types of questions you may ask.  

Talk through Questions. While any sort of retrieval practice that provides examineeswith immediate feedback (i.e., the correct answer) is beneficial, be sure to take some time to talk through the questions you ask. Why were certain distractors (incorrect answers) in a multiple-choice question problematic? Why did examineesthink those distractors were feasible? You can talk through example exam questions in class, in synchronous Zoom sessions, create a short video that examineeswatch on their own, or provide explanations in a discussion forum or course announcement.  

Offer a Practice Exam. By offering a practice exam to students, you are potentially decreasing their testing anxiety as they may feel a greater sense of agency. If you plan to administer your exam online, offering a practice exam that uses the same Moodle or Blackboard format as the actual exam would help familiarize your examineeswith the type of technology they are going to use and how the test questions might look with that technology.

Clarify Testing Conditions

Offer Guidance on Effective Testing Environments for Online Exams. To ensure the best “distraction-free” atmosphere possible, encourage examineesto find a space that is as quiet as possible, declutter their testing area, ask for others not to interrupt them while they are taking the exam, turn off their cellphones, and close all other applications and notifications on their device.

Provide Flexibility in Testing Time for Online Exams. Examineeswill find themselves in a variety of situations that make it difficult to take an online exam under a rigid time constraint (e.g., they may lose internet connection; they may have to take care of a sibling or parent). By providing a “testing window” to take the exam (i.e., 48 hours), examineescan plan accordingly. Alternatively, you could consider having examineestake a “take-home” exam for an extended period of time.

Share Your Expectations about Allowable Resources. If you’ve (re)designed your exam to include more higher-order questions that ask examineesto apply what they know (knowledge they’ve developed through repeated retrieval practice) in new situations, you should consider allowing examineesto collaborate and/or to use their notes or texts to complete the exam. Whatever you decide, be sure to be explicit about what is or is not allowed well before the scheduled exam and answer any student questions.

What About Cheating?

Many instructors have concerns about academic integrity when it comes to exams. The previous sections on this page give you many options to uphold academic integrity, including: changing your grading scheme to include other assessments or lower-stakes exams; incorporating higher-order questions that allow examineesto use resources or collaborate to answer; providing ample opportunities for examineesto practice answering exam questions; and clarifying your expectations for students. However, there are additional design strategies you can implement:

Include an Honesty Statement. Ask each student to sign an honesty pledge before accessing the exam questions. You could place the statement at the beginning of the exam or on a separate paper you collect. For an online exam, you could place the statement at the top of the exam before the questions are visible and require your examineesto check a box next to the statement.

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