Sarah Lehrian with Robert Brown

Continuing the Battle to Find a Cure for  Post-Exam Syndrome

There has been preliminary research^1 into the question of increasing the learning value associated with student examinations.  Initial results considered the degree to which students benefit from revisiting, correcting, and analyzing their examination effort, before progressing with new material.  The analysis step refers to the requirement that the students explain the thought processes behind any originally incorrect answer.  The benefits were assessed by use of follow-up exams, but suffered from difficulties in choosing appropriate questions and format for such exams.  (For example, questions that are too hard or too easy may mask significant differences in understanding.)  In this senior project, we will investigate the possibility of constructing more useful follow-up tests, and we will consider their value in assessing other learning methods.  We will attempt to find guidelines for instructors who wish to pursue some of these methods.
1.  See M. Finnerty, 2004 CWRU Senior Thesis for a discussion.