Automatically Scored, Multiple-Attempt, Recurring Weekly Exams In A Physics Course: Can They Improve Student Wellbeing And Learning Outcomes?

This paper describes the arrangements and assessment methods employed in the engineering physics online courses offered by Tampere University of Applied Sciences. The grading process involves the use of automatically assessed weekly online exams in Moodle, which comprise mostly numerical questions, as well as conceptual questions, force diagrams, and multiple-choice questions. Students are allowed to attempt each exam three times, and their best score is recorded. The questions and initial values were randomized for each try to reduce possibilities for trial-and-error method and copying from peers. By completing the week exams with enough points, the students were able to pass the course with low grades. The main idea was to make the course completion more flexible and time and place independent and reduce exam stress. It also reduced teachers’ workload in relation to assessment and retakes. Most students took more than one attempt in the exams, and the majority of students who initially scored low points showed improvement in subsequent attempts. According to student feedback vast majority of students agreed that this exam arrangement worked well and that retakes reduced stress, was flexible and improve their learning experience and outcomes. Almost no one would like to change back to one-attempt exam checked by the instructor.