Tonight I watched Claire Meaders speak about two-stage exams as part of a JMBE Live! session. The title of the session was “Collaborative Two Stage Exams Benefit Students in a Biology Laboratory Course.” Meaders used menti and polled the attendees. Meaders explained that they joined UCSD as an Assistant Teaching Professor in November 2020. They teach both large (250-400) student introductory biology lectures and smaller (50) courses. Meaders noted that they teach upper level biology lab courses with three exams. A first week survey was used. The course goals emphasize collaborative learning and laboratory skills. Meaders assessed course learning goals with lab notebooks and a final lab report, weekly quizzes, in-class formative assessments, and summative assessments. Meaders used two-stage collaborative exams with an individual exam portion and a collaborative exam. Meaders explained that there is evidence supporting the impact of two-stage exams. Interestingly, there were equity gaps on he individual portion of the exams. Importantly, Meaders said that equity gaps were decreased. Students overall perceived two-stage exams as helpful and enjoyable. Student perceptions were shared as quotes and summaries/results of Likert scales. There were ten students who noted negative results/feelings. Current and future research will address some of the concerns.
