Exam Time Proactively Engages Students in Active Learning

Assignment Title:  Week 3 Blog 2

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 by Kelly Walsh on October 9, 2014

http://www.emergingedtech.com/2014/10/examine-engage-students-active-learning

Some students have test anxiety which causes them to have trouble thinking and being able to solve mathematical problems.  This is evident in most of the developmental math classes that I teach at the community college.  According to Walsh (2014), “Effective learning is not the outcome of encouraging students to passively consume and regurgitate reams of information verbatim” (Walsh, 2014, p. 2). 

 

This article talks about how students can learn by doing and this method allows some students the opportunity to retrieve the information they studied because they have deposited into their long term memory. In order to help these students who struggle with test anxiety, ExamTime has been explored. According to Walsh (2014), “The key advantage of using ExamTime is the improvement of students’ engagements in the classroom plus students’ ability to proactively direct their learning” (Walsh, 2014, p. 2).

Students who are able to utilize ExamTime will find that they have more control over their learning. This type control can often cause students to build more confidence in themselves. When this happens, students are more apt to lose some of that anxiety thus making them more susceptible to learn.  ExamTime is a tool that allows student to track their own learning as well as perform self-assessments as they prefer. According to the article, “…innovative technology on ExamTime gives both teachers and students the power to use the tools in the way that aligns with their personal needs and goals” (Walsh, 2014, p. 3).

Students have been instrumental in showing their instructors how to utilize ExamTime. “…teachers champion collaborative learning through group-work and distribution of responsibility for grades.”  According to Walsh, “resources can be shared both internally and externally via email and social media” (Walsh, 2014, p. 3).

Traditional and non-traditional students would could utilize this resource with great accomplishment.  Sometimes, these students don’t understand concepts and struggle with how to ask a question in class.  Using ExamTime could rid this fear and ease the anxiety many of these students possess.  Being able to assess yourself would be the key to improvement for many students.