Exploring Second-Chance Testing as a Practical Form of Mastery Learning

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by investigating how second-chance testing improves student learning and retention. The significance of this work is rooted in the observation that some students fail courses, even though they have to ability to succeed and willingness to work. These students often fail because they overestimate the adequacy of their preparation for an exam or misunderstand course expectations. This failure can prevent these qualified students from persisting in STEM majors and joining the STEM workforce. Second-chance testing is the practice of allowing students to take an exam and then giving them feedback on their performance. They are then allowed to further study the material and then take a second, equivalent exam for some form of grade replacement. Preliminary data show that second-chance testing improves average exam scores and reduces exam failure rates. This project will investigate best practices with respect to second-chance testing and characterize its benefits. The project will also study whether second-chance testing disproportionately helps students who are traditionally under-served by existing course structures. It will also study what can be done to help instructors adopt this practice. Second-chance testing can be a powerful technique because it exploits both the "testing effect" (increased long-term memory resulting from deliberate retrieval practice) and "test-potentiated learning" (increased ability of a learner to benefit from an opportunity to restudy a concept). In addition, it offers the potential to mitigate students' failures on exams due to their inability to correctly assess course expectations and their level of readiness. Preliminary data at the University of Illinois on second-chance testing has shown improvements in student performance measured by mean exam scores and a reduction in exam failure rates. In addition, this data showed that variations in the grading policy can exert considerable influence on which students choose to take the second chance exam. The goals of this project are to more rigorously measure the benefits of second-chance testing, map out the scope of grading policies and their impacts, and better understand the factors involved in faculty adoption of second-chance testing. The project will focus on three research questions. First, how much does second-chance testing improve students' cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes? Second, how do second-chance grading policies affect students' cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes on first-chance and subsequent second-chance exams? Third, does second-chance testing disproportionately help students who are traditionally under-served by single opportunity exam structures? The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.