It has been shown that rather than simply regurgitating facts, exams help move students along in the process of model-building, and durable memory formation. In other words, exams are as much a learning tool as they are an assessment tool. With this in mind, this project´s team inquired, are there assessment methodologies yet to be explored that capitalize on exams as a learning tool? And what issues do we run into when we use exams as a learning tool?
The Innovations Around Interview Exams project will explore interview exams as a potential source for high-impact assessment and will consider the many challenges inherent in this underutilized methodology. Interview exams involve one-on-one time between instructor and student, and allows for student elaboration of concepts, instructor explanation of assessments, and instructor guidance to help the student navigate any roadblock that may allow them to continue with the problem. From social and power dynamics, to disabilities, language skills, communication challenges, and student preparedness, interview exams are difficult terrain to navigate, but Hartnell College believes that they also represent a potent source for student long-term memory formation and model-building. This project seeks to explore the variety of ways that interviews may be implemented, to give instructors an array of options to effectively administer interview exams in a variety of classroom environments.
The interview exam format was implemented to improve academic integrity in the online learning environment and found to be highly effective and equity-promoting, with promise in the face-to-face environment. The project will build on the experience of individual faculty who have been successfully using interview exams and recruit additional faculty, in order to facilitate a cohesive and open conversation about the novel assessment approach with identified steps to develop, iterate, and disseminate best practices among math faculty at Hartnell and beyond.