ERIC Number: EJ1316065
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-May
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0002-7685
EISSN: N/A
An Analysis of Students' Makeup-Exam Results and Performance in Undergraduate Biology Courses
Tarasi, Dennis D.
American Biology Teacher, v82 n5 p308-314 May 2020
A consistent challenge for undergraduate instructors is how to properly and objectively assess students who cannot attend regularly scheduled exams. Though many alternatives exist, perhaps the most common strategy is to allow students to take a makeup exam at a different time. Many instructors avoid this option for fear of the students gaining an unfair advantage in their exam preparations. I assessed student performance on makeup exams in relation to their typical performance on other exams throughout the course, to determine if there was any signal of score improvement or decline on makeup exams. I analyzed the data in regard to when students took the makeup exam, what their excuse for missing the regularly scheduled exam was, and the type of course in which they took the makeup. Students' makeup-exam scores were not significantly different from their regular-exam scores, though students who took a makeup due to a school-sponsored activity scored worse than students taking a makeup due to family emergencies or illness. While this research cannot definitively state that makeup exams do not provide some sort of advantage to student scores, it suggests that if students are trying to "game the system," at the very least, they aren't winning.
Descriptors: Tests, Scores, Academic Achievement, Undergraduate Students, Biology, Student Evaluation, Test Selection
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A