SLIDE 9 10/9/2014 9
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e a c hing yo ur stude nts to “q ue stio n a n issue o r a c e ntra l pro b le m” p. 44
- 1. Ho w c o uld this pa g e b e use d to te a c h stude nts
stra te g ie s fo r a nswe ring e ssa y q ue stio ns?
- 2. Pro vide o ne e xa mple o f a n a c tivity o r
a ssig nme nt yo u mig ht de ve lo p fo r yo ur stude nts.
Re se a rc h: Stude nts Be ne fit fro m Pra c tic e Writing Que stio ns….
T he E ffe c ts of Stude nt-Wr itte n Que stions on Stude nt T e st Pe r for manc e
Pa ul W. F
lo rida Inte rna tio nal Unive rsity (1989) T he e ffe c ts o f stude nt-writte n te st q ue stio ns o n stude nt te st pe rfo rma nc e we re e xa mine d in a n Intro duc to ry Psyc ho lo g y c la ss. Be fo re e a c h o f thre e te sts, ra ndo mly a ssig ne d stude nts wro te e ssa y q ue stio ns, multiple c ho ic e q ue stio ns, o r no q ue stio ns. All te sts c o nta ine d e ssa y a nd multiple -c ho ic e ite ms b ut no q ue stio ns writte n b y stude nts. Que stio n write rs pe rfo rme d sig nific a ntly b e tte r tha n no n-write rs o n the first two te sts; the diffe re nc e o n the third te st wa s ma rg ina lly sig nific a nt. No diffe re nc e s we re fo und b e twe e n stude nts who wro te e ssa y a nd tho se who wro te multiple -c ho ic e q ue stio ns.
Que stion wr iting appe ar s to be an e ffe c tive study te c hnique .
Re se a rc h: Mo re De e p L e a rning Whe n Stude nts I nte g ra te T e xts in E ssa y Writing
T he E ffe c ts of T asks on Inte gr ating Infor mation F r
- m Multiple Doc ume nts (2008)
Ra q ue l Ce rda ´ a nd E dua rdo Vida l-Ab a rc a , Ca tho lic Unive rsity o f Va le nc ia T he a utho rs e xa mine 2 issue s: (a ) ho w stude nts inte g ra te info rma tio n fro m multiple sc ie ntific do c ume nts to de sc rib e a nd e xpla in a physic a l phe no me no n tha t re pre se nts a sub se t o f the info rma tio n in the do c ume nts; a nd (b ) the ro le o f 2 so rts o f ta sks to a c hie ve this type o f inte g ra tio n, e ithe r writing a n e ssa y o n a q ue stio n re q uiring inte g ra tio n a c ro ss te xts o r a nswe ring sho rte r intra -te xt q ue stio ns tha t re q uire stude nts to inte g ra te info rma tio n within a sing le te xt, while supe rfic ia l a nd de e p c o mpre he nsio n me a sure me nts a re o b ta ine d.
Re sults showe d that the inte gr ation que stion inc r e ase d inte gr ation and de c r e ase d the pr
- c e ssing of isolate d units of infor
mation, whic h e nhanc e d de e p le ar ning, whe re a s no
diffe re nc e s b e twe e n the 2 so rts o f ta sks o n me mo ry re c a ll we re a ppa re nt.
Ove ra ll E ssa y Writing Sho wn to Ha ve a n I mpa c t
An Inve stigation of the E ffe c ts of E xam E ssay Que stions
e ar ning in Unite d State s Histor y Sur ve y Classe s
Sa ra Bro o ks Sundb e rg Unive rsity o f Ce ntra l Misso uri T hre e hundre d sixty-five stude nts, who b o th the pre -te st a nd po st-te st. T he to ta l numb e r o f stude nts e nro lle d in the c o urse during the c o urse o f the study wa s five hundre d a nd two stude nts. T he thirte e n se c tio ns o f the c o urse tha t to o k b o th the pre te st a nd the po st-te st ra ng e d in o ve ra ll size fro m thirty-thre e stude nts to fo rty- nine stude nts in a se c tio n with a n a ve ra g e o f thirty-nine stude nts pe r se c tio n.'‘
E ssay wr iting on e xams made a diffe r e nc e in stude nts' sc or e s, and pote ntially the ir unde r standing, as r e fle c te d in the gr e ate r ne t gain of the post-te st ove r pr e -te st sc or e s for the nine se c tions in the fir st thr e e se me ste r s whe n e ssa y q ue stio ns we re
pa rt o f the e xa ms. During the se se me ste rs a ve ra g e sc o re s inc re a se d b e twe e n twe nty a nd thirty pe rc e nt. T he se re sults suppo rt the a sse rtio n tha t e ssa y writing impro ve s histo ry le a rning ; the g a in wa s sta tistic a lly sig nific a nt.
