Test Insurance A Method That May Enhance Learning and Reduce Anxiety in Introductory Science Examinations Arthur B. Ellis University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI 53706 efficacy of the test a s a learning experience and may reI n her influential book, They're Not Dumb, They're Difi duce anxiety. Moreover, it conveys a clear message to the ferent: Stalkiw the Second Tier, Tobias reports that introductory science courses can be overly competitive and stressful ( I ) . An unpleasant experience in t h e s e gatekeeper courses reduces the likelihood t h a t nonTEST INSURANCE PAGE majors will come away with an Pay a point premium, get a clue. appreciation for and enjoyment of these disciplines and underWarning: Do not use thls page unless you f w i completely stuck; in many mines the potential that these cases, your first instlnct for solving a problem wlll be correct. A courses possess for recruiting deduction of 201C of the total polnt value of the problem will be made for talented students to technical ca- each clue that you unmask. If you uae one of the clues below, make sure reers. that you Include it In your answer in the body of the test. To uncover a Examinations often contribute clue, slmply scratch It off with a coln. to a negative reaction to introductory science courses. AlProblem 6, page 4 though their necessity in evaluCiue to part a) 4 point deduction ating classroom and laboratory performance is appreciated, examinations can leave students feeling inadequate, frustrated, and panicked. Yet examinations, Problem 8, page 5 3 point deduction particularly those based on es- Clue to part a) says and rnulti-step problems, have great potential for serving a s tools for promoting analytical a n d creative thinking. I t is i n 3 point deduction Ciue to part b) just these types of examination questions, however, that student frustration and fear is particularly evident. An inability to identify a central theme or to an- Problem 10, page 5 swer the first part of a sequence Clue 3 point deduction of interdependent questions results in complete failure. Many times the student is capable of answering the questions but has a mental block a s a result of test Problem 11, page 8 anxiety. 8 point deduction The purpose of this article is to Answer to pert a) describe a method that makes it relatively easy to ask essay and multi-step examination questions in a way that promotes cre- Answer to part b) 8 point deduction ative, analytical thinking. This "Test Insurance" format has been used successfully in the author's large lecture section of General Chemistry 103. Approximately 250 students, most of whom are I am interested in your reaction to this kind of exam format. nonmajors, a t the University of Wisconsin-Madison, participated. For most students, based Figure 1. Sample of the Test Insurance page used in a general chemistry class. One of the answers, on post-examination surveys, the corresponding to the question shown in Figure 2, has been revealed by scratching offthe ink that had format appears to improve the masked it.
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students that the teacher wants them to he successful in the course. Test Insurance The hasic idea of Test Insurance (TI) is that if a student is stuck, he or she may buy a clue to an essay question or buy the answer to the first and/or second parts of a multistep question for some fraction of the question's total worth. In our test. this "point oremium" amounted to 20% (one clue or answkr) or i o % ( L o clues or answers) of the question's value. To implement this methodology in a manner that preserves a student's privacy, a separate TI page, shown in Fimre 1, is handed to each student. The clues or answers are-identified by prohlem number, page number, and point deduction, hut they are concealed by using "scratch-off paper" technology commonly encountered in "instant winner" contests like lotteries and promotional advertising. Removal of the coating using a coin is irreversible and clearly indicates that a clue or answer has been seen by the student. If the student scratches off the mev coating. revealing the clue or answer, the indicated ;-her of points is d z ducted only if the student answers the rest of the auestion with somelevel of success. Otherwise no deduction occurs (negative scores on a question cannot be obtained in our use of the method). The TI page is turned in with the examination by each student. Figure 1 shows that instructions for the TI page begin with a hold-faced warning, emphasizing that a student should not use the TI page unless
11. (40 total points) A Chem 103 student has five beakers, labeled A-E, each containing 100 mL of an aqueous 1.00 M CdCI2solution. Aseparate beaker contains a large quantity of a 0.50 M aqueous K2S solution. This K2S solution is added to each of beakers A-E: 50 mL is added to A, 100 mL is added to 0,150 mL is added to C, 200 mL is added to D, and 250 mL is added to E. A yellow precipitate forms in each beaker; the precipitates are each filtered,dried, and weighed. a) (8)What is the balanced net reaction that occurs in all of the beakers? Shown below is a plot of the grams of precipitate collected as a function of the milliliters of K2S solution that were added. The beaker corresponding to each experimental data point is also shown.
mL of 0.50 M KB solution added b) (8)How many grams of precipitate were collected from bea-
ker C?
): (24) How many grams of precipitate are collected from beakers D and E and why does the plot shown above flatten after
ooint D?
Fgure 2 Page of the exammat on corresponding to the answer tnal 1s scratcnw on in Figure 1
absolutely stuck and that his or her first reaction regarding how to approach a problem is often correct. About twothirds of the students used at least one of the six clues that were available on the TI page. As an example of the use of the TI page, Figure 2 shows the last page of an exam, which was devoted to a multistep limiting reagent problem inspired by a discoverybased laboratory (2).The first part requires setting up the balanced equation; the second part asks for a stoichiometric calculation when one reagent is limiting; and the last part recluires stoichiometric calculations leadine the student to recognize that there is a point beyond Ghich the other reagent limits the extent of reaction. Clearly. if a student misses the first part, the entire problem will he wrong. The TI page affords the student an opportunity to see the balanced equation (uncovered region of Fig. 1) and/or the calculation in the second part as a means of helping the student identify the limiting reagent theme in the prohlem. To implement production of the TI pages, they were printed on enamel-coated paper (8or 10 point: 1CS. meaning one side is coated), a t a cost of ahoui half-a-dollar per page, by a silk-screening firm that completed the job in a day. The paper needs to be sufficiently opaque when viewed from the hack side that the clues/answers cannot be discerned and sufficiently robust to withstand the vigorous rubbing used to reveal the clues/answers. Regional constraints on recycling also are a consideration in ehoosing the paper. There may well he faster, cheaper ways to accomplish the same objectives sewed by the TI page, and the author would he interested in learning of these. In a survey taken after the exams had been graded and returned to the students, there was overwhelming approval of the method based on a question as to whether to continue the practice. Ninetyrseven students said yes; six said no; and six were ambivalent. Exclusively anecdotal evidence indicated that student anxiety had been lowered and learning enhanced by the TI format. There were descriptions of the exam as less stressful and recognition that a cluelanswer on the TI page had helped to solve the remainder of a problem. Even students who had not used the TI page said they appreciated knowing it was there and indicated that it might have been used had they not been sure where to begin. The negative responses identified two potential problems with the format. First, a few students claimed it was more stress-inducing, since they worried about whether to uncover klues. A few students also were frustrated, because thev had answered a Dart of a question correctly but had lost chose points by usfng the TI page. Several respondents applauded the spirit of the TI page,-noting the message it sent of wanting to see them give their best possible performance on the examination. Conclusion In summary, Test Insurance may offer a variety of benefits in introductorv science courses: a means for askine more thought-prov~kingquestions; a feedback mechanism for enhancing the value of the test as a learning experience; a format that may reduce anxiety; and a sratement that the testing format is designed to optimize a student's chance of success. The TI page is prepared readily using high-tech "scratch-off technology, a tesetaking twist that appeals to many students. It should he apparent that although the TI page was developed for an introductory science class, the same concept is readily extended to classes of virtually any level and discipline. Acknowledgment The author is grateful to Susan Trehach, George Lisensky, Margret Geselbracht, Bruce Goldade, Diana
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Duff, Gery Essenmacher, Jane Peterson, John Moore, and Larry Drake (Silk Screen Advertising, Madison, WI) for helpful eomments and assistance with implementation. He is to his chemistry 103 class and teaching tants (Jill Covert, Amy Gribb, Tom Jewett, David Man-
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ning, Prakash Raman, Jim Selkirk, and Ed Winder) for their participation in the experiment. Literature Cited 1.~ o b i a qs. ~ h w ' m~
z. ~
o ~ tu m b % , k ~iffemnt:s t o l k i n ~tho s a n d n r r : h e a r c h Corporation: Tucson,AZ. 1990. i ~R.n . E ~ B I ~ LM A. J. chpm.E ~ Z C 1991, . 68.228.
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