Asking the Right Questions: Using Student-Written Exams as an Innovative Approach to Learning and Evaluation

Abstract

Most students are concerned about grades and often have negative attitudes toward testing. Students perceive traditional instructor-written exams as irrelevant and autocratic, leading to lower trust in teaching and evaluation methods and decreased motivation to learn. This paper discusses a new approach, the student-written exam, which is a take-home assessment where each student writes and answers his or her own exam questions. Guidelines for students include comprehensive learning objectives, instructions and examples for writing exam questions, format and submission criteria, and a grading rubric. Assessment results show that this method, while perceived as more challenging than traditional exams, improved the relevance of exam questions, increased student involvement with learning and self-evaluation, and helped students manage exam stress.