Eberly Center

Exam Wrappers And Their Impact On Improving Exam Performance In
Introductory Chemistry

Research shows that first-year college students struggle to manage their
learning process and to develop effective study strategies. Exam wrappers are formative
exercises that students complete upon receiving a graded exam, challenging them to
assess their understanding of course material and the effectiveness of their study skills,
and to consider what similar or different things they can do to improve performance on
assessments. Implementation of an
exam wrapper after Exam 1 in 09-105 Introduction to Modern Chemistry I
in the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 semesters showed that students who completed an
exam wrapper achieved improved exam performance compared to those who did not. In
the Fall 2016 course, exam wrappers were implemented after both Exams 1 and 2, and
in online and paper formats. The data from student responses on these wrappers were
analyzed to compare the impact on subsequent exam performance with that of the
previous two semesters.

Vuocolo, Leonard
MCS, Chemistry
Weiss, Emily
Eberly Center