Background: The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to proctor exams after the forced transition to remote teaching and learning. Objective: We evaluated students' experiences creating and answering their own exam items in an upper-level psychology course during the transition to remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method:…

There is widespread belief that test-taking ability is an influential component of academic success distinct from domain knowledge and comprehension. Most of today's college students took many more tests over the course of their primary and secondary education than students of previous generations, and also participated in regular training to…

Research on collaborative testing has shown that it decreases test anxiety, increases learning and critical thinking skills, and allows students to practice collaboration and teamwork. However, it has most often been used as a second test following traditional individual testing. This quasi-experimental study compared two models of collaborative…

The purpose of this quasi-experiment is to test two different methods for helping students reduce anxiety before an exam. Students in two introductory psychology courses (N = 111) engaged in either a focused breathing exercise or an expressive writing exercise before their final exam. Results indicated that, compared with previous exam…

In this study, I examined the impact of periodic pop quizzes on cumulative final exam scores. Specifically, I compared the impact of using no quizzes, graded quizzes, and ungraded quizzes on final exam scores of introductory psychology students. Quizzed students also completed a survey with questions probing how the students felt about the…

Wilbert J. McKeachie has been the president of the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Association of Higher Education, the American Psychological Foundation, the Division of Educational and School Psychology of the International Association of Applied Psychology, and APA's Divisions 2 and 15. He received his PhD at the…

An evaluation of a test-retest policy, which was designed to give students a second chance at each exam in introductory psychology courses, showed that it reduced the test anxiety of approximately 80 percent of the students. Students' scores also improved on retests. (RM)

We experimentally investigated the effect of authorized crib cards on undergraduates' multiple-choice exam performance for lower order and higher order questions and on anxiety levels in an upper division child and adolescent development course. Students (N =54) in 2 sections could use crib cards during 2 of the 4 exams. Despite student…

If students can see a clear reason for comprehensive examinations and have a model to follow in preparation, they will learn more and their test anxiety will be reduced. A history of doctoral examinations is presented, and how students might be helped to prepare for them is discussed. (RM)

Research indicates that frequent testing in a traditional psychology course positively affects students performance, evaluations of instructor, and test anxiety. The research involved 405 students in introductory psychology courses. (Author/KC)

Discusses the extra credit exercise (ECE), a pop quiz variation that combines the benefits of frequent, unannounced testing with the features that make quizzes less aversive (the ECE are extra-credit and do not hurt the students' grades). Addresses the benefits of the ECE assignment and the students' reactions to it. (CMK)

Computer-administered exams offer many advantages, but instructors may be reluctant to use them due to concerns that computer anxiety may increase student test anxiety. Introductory psychology students (N = 265) completed surveys prior to their first exam about their anxiety related to the upcoming exam, computers in general, and taking exams on…

This study addressed the impact of a semester-long course called "Learning to Learn," an undergraduate psychology course designed to teach college students to be self-regulated learners. Results of pretesting and posttesting of 78 students with the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie,…

Outlines and discusses four unique and major challenges facing the undergraduate statistics instructor. These are motivating students to study material they think is uninteresting, handling mathematics anxiety, dealing with performance extremes, and making the learning memorable. Offers solutions for each challenge. (MJP)