Assessing and Improving University Exams: A Case Study on a Collaborative Professional Development Program With University Teachers

• In Event: 29.071 - Methodological and Analytical Approaches to Strengthening Learning Outcomes Assessment Measures

Abstract

This paper presents a case study on challenges university teachers perceive in designing and administering high-quality exams. The research questions concerned, first, the challenges and problems that university teachers perceive in designing and administering exams. Second, we asked what problems can be found in an analysis of the exams of the participating teachers and whether this confirms their own perceptions. Data were gathered from four groups of university teachers participating in a professional development program on improving exams. The results indicate that problems lie primarily in the construction of appropriate tasks and less in evaluating students’ answers. A particular apparent problem is the lack of alignment between the courses’ learning objectives and the types of tasks used in the exams.

Authors

• Christoph Schindler, German Institute for International Education Research

• Johannes Bauer, Technische Universität München

• Nadine Schlomske-Bodenstein, Technical University of Munich

• Alexandra Strasser, Technische Universität München

• Tina Seidel, Technische Universität München

• Manfred Prenzel, Technische Universität München