Closed book exam with cheat sheet
This page describes an implementation of an assessment method by a lecturer or group of lecturers. The content of the page is the result of an interview conducted through the RAFT project in DIT in the 2013-14 Academic Year.
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Lecturer and Contact Details
Programme and year on which assessment was offered
- Programmes in Mathematical Sciences, Years 1-4
Description
Cheat Sheet: Used for in-class examination type assessments (e.g. 30% continuous formative assessment). Students can bring a single A4 handwritten sheet containing any information they believe will help them with the assessment. These are normally a summary of notes from the module up until time of assessment. The Cheat Sheet has to be handwritten. No photocopies are allowed. The back and front of the page can be used.
Why did you use this Assessment?
- Allowing a Cheat Sheet instead of a full open book assessment limits the amount of material a student can bring to the assessment and therefore forces them to study their notes ahead of the assessment, and ideally to distil the theory into a summary which is understood by the student, much like ‘study postcards’ or a ‘study mindmap’. Preparation of the Cheat Sheet also serves as effective revision for the end of module summative closed book exam.
- Allowing a Cheat Sheet instead of a closed exam has several advantages. It removes some of the apprehension associated with closed book exams. It takes the emphasis off rote learning, as students realise that fact regurgitation will not gain marks, and instead applying the theory from lectures to assessment problems is required.
- All students tend to bring a Cheat Sheet. Good students who may not need to bring many materials to a traditional open book exam will still tend to summarise their notes in a Cheat Sheet as they don’t want to be at a disadvantage.
Why did you change to this form of assessment?
Previously used a more traditional open book exam. I found that students took too many books and notes. Indeed the weaker the student, the more books and notes were brought. Weaker or more desperate students wasted their exam time trying to find near exact examples of questions from books or notes to help them answer the exam questions. Many students brought photocopied class notes from peers, and therefore clearly had not taken time to study missed lectures and create their own notes.
I changed to the Cheat Sheet as this forced all students to create summaries of notes. Even weaker students at the very least must hand write out notes (even at worst of these were copied form someone else’s Cheat Sheet).
How do you give feedback to students?
Use of a cheat sheet has no impact on the way feedback is delivered after an assessment.
What have you found are the advantages of using this form of assessment?
- All students are forced to hand write a summary page.
- Works like a ‘study mindmap or ‘summary postcards’ which are beneficial in preparation for the summative closed book exam.
- Confidence and peace of mind, compared to closed book assessments.
- Encourages critical thinking, as facts regurgitation will not attract marks.
- Forces students to apply theory to problems.
What have you found are the dis-advantages of using this form of assessment?
- None that you have found over three years.
If another lecturer was using this assessment method would you have any tips for them?
The concept is very straightforward. Encourage students to make most of the opportunity to study and summarise their notes, pointing out the advantage for their final summative exam. Even if they copy a cheat sheet, something may go in!
Encourage them to use a mix of diagrams, reminders, formulas etc. They can practice assessment type questions, and see what information is useful to have on a Cheat Sheet.
A Cheat Sheet works well for any ‘problem solving’ type assessment. Obviously not appropriate for situations where rote learning is required.
Do you have any feedback from students about this assessment?
They seem to like it, have had no complaints from either weak or strong students to date.
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