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Student Achievement Goals with Alternative and Traditional Exam Formats

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Conference

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual Conference

Publication Date

July 26, 2021

Start Date

July 26, 2021

End Date

July 19, 2022

Conference Session

Teaching Methodology & Assessment 1

Tagged Division

Aerospace

Page Count

13

DOI

10.18260/1-2--37739

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/37739

Download Count

257

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Paper Authors

biography

Connor Ott University of Colorado Boulder

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Connor Ott is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder where he received a bachelor's and master's degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences. His research primarily focuses on assessment in large engineering courses and ways to improve their effectiveness as feedback for students and instructors. He currently works as an aerospace engineer designing satellite missions at Advanced Space in Westminster, Colorado.

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biography

Kathryn Anne Wingate University of Colorado Boulder

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Dr. Kathryn Wingate is an instructor at University of Colorado Boulder, where she teaches design and mechanics courses. She holds her PhD in mechanical engineering, and worked at NGAS as a materials scientist.

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Aaron W. Johnson University of Colorado Boulder

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Aaron W. Johnson is an Instructor in Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to this he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan and the Tufts University Center for Engineering Education and Outreach. He received his Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014 and a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan in 2008.

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Abstract

In an engineering course, students’ motivation during an exam can be understood through the framework of their “achievement goals,” which can be divided into performance and mastery goal orientations. Performance goals are associated with seeking high performance and avoiding low performance. Mastery goals are associated with developing skills and increasing understanding. We hypothesize that in large courses, the structure of exams—as high-value assessments—has a large influence on students’ goal orientation. This study investigates the use of an alternative exam structure in a sophomore-level aerospace engineering course at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The instructors gave students six quizzes and an optional final exam, rather than the traditional three midterm and comprehensive final exam format historically used in the course and similar courses in the curriculum. The optional final exam allowed students to correct mistakes and misconceptions from up to three of the midterm quizzes. The researchers queried students with a survey regarding both assessment formats to determine differences in perceived goal structures surrounding them. From 112 responses, survey results indicate a noticeable difference in student attitude towards the traditional and alternative assessment formats. Students generally perceived the alternative format to be more mastery-oriented than the traditional format and perceive the traditional format as being more performance-oriented than the alternative format. In our discussion, we point out how these findings could help instructors design more focused assessments that target different achievement goal structures, without sacrificing the efficiency and rigor of administering traditional exams to large engineering classes.

Ott, C., & Wingate, K. A., & Johnson, A. W. (2021, July), Student Achievement Goals with Alternative and Traditional Exam Formats Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37739

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