What is it?
Exam wrappers are exam-adjacent activities that are intended to promote student reflection on their learning processes and improve their metacognition. Exam wrappers can be administered before and/or after a test. Typical questions on an exam wrapper might be:
- What strategies did you use to prepare for the test?
- How effective were those strategies?
- What kinds of errors did you make on the test?
- Given what you observed on this test, what changes will you make in your study strategies before the next test?
What are the benefits?
An exam wrapper can encourage metacognition (thinking about thinking).
It is also particularly useful for students who are taking a science course as an elective, and who may not have developed the study skills needed for success in science tests.
What are the challenges?
Self-evaluation and self-awareness are difficult skills, and students may need guidance from the instructor.
Students may focus on content deficiencies, rather than the process of how they prepared for the exam (“I didn’t study Chapter 2 enough” vs “I focused my studying on only a small section of the material that was going to be tested.”)
Who’s using this?
Pending… if you’ve used this technique and you’re willing to share thoughts about your and your students’ experience, send me an email!
Resources
Carnegie Mellon University’s Eberly Center for
Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation has posted
example exam wrappers for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math.
References
Hodges, L. C., Beall, L. C., Anderson, E. C., Carpenter, T. S., Cui, L., Feeser, E., Gierasch, T., Nanes, K. M., Perks, H. M., & Wagner, C. (2020). Effect of exam wrappers on student achievement in multiple, large STEM courses. Journal of College Science Teaching, 50(1), 69-79. KPU Library Link.
Lovett, M. C. (2013). Make exams worth more than the grade: Using exam wrappers to promote metacognition. In M. Kaplan, N. Sliver, D. LaVaque-Manty, D. Meizlish, & J. L. Rhem. Using reflection and metacognition to improve student learning: Across the disciplines, across the academy (First ed.). Stylus. KPU Library Link.
