Implementing Collaborative Mock Exam Review

Abstract

Exam reviews are a common offering within and across courses, often supported by departments, learning centers, and success centers. However, the majority of typical exam review formats follow the lecture or direct-teach format, with instructor- centered re-teaching or problem-solving as the mode of review. In lieu of this traditional and more passive offering, Balch (1998) found that students of all academic ability benefitted from active practice exam reviews and outperformed those who participated in typical exam reviews. In these active practice exam reviews, students spend time in the review actively solving problems, developing solutions and answering exam-style questions rather than passively receiving answers or watching an expert solve question Cranney et al. (2009) also saw positive gains in student outcomes based on the testing effect of repeated quizzing and testing, as opposed to re-study.