Semester Exams, Mocks and Learning in High School
Next week we have a week of Semester Exams and Mocks and a number of parents have asked questions about the nature of that experience, why we do them and what they are? So I thought I would take some time to explore those very questions!
What do we do?
In grades 9 to 11 we have exams in the penultimate week of the semester (next week) in all subjects, unless that subject has a summative assessment (meaning an assessment at the end to sum up learning) in another form, like a project or portfolio. Generally subjects like art for example tend to be more assessed by a body of work rather than a two hour exam. In Grade 10 these are also mocks for those doing iGCSEs. Grade 12 mock exams are mostly after the break, when more of the course has been completed. They are already on the calendar.
Why do we do them?
We do them for a number of reasons.
- For iGCSEs we have to do mocks for any entries because the exam board tell us we must, and they must be in exam conditions.
- For grade 9 and 11, we choose to do them. We do this for a variety of reasons. If students never take an exam, and then suddenly take one at the end you get something called 'construct irrelevant variance'. What this means in everyday language, is students' results become a bit erratic not because they haven't learned it, but because they are not used to expressing it in that format. It's common sense really - doing something for the 'first time' is always harder.
- We mostly give formative feedback (meaning advice on how to get better - formative, not a summary of how good you are at the end - summative)
- It is also true that 'effortful recall' is well known to support learning. It might seem counter intuitive that trying hard to remember something, even if you get it wrong and then check, actually helps you to learn that thing you were struggling to remember. This is well known from cognitive science. What educators who believe in 'memory and cognitive load theory' often omit to mention is that having a strong conceptual framework for what you have learned is even more effective. Only concept based approaches like the International Baccalaureate and our curriculum have this approach. But... it is great to get the best of BOTH, and have BOTH well organised knowledge AND time to practice effortful recall in something like a semester exam or mock.
- There are also a lot of self management skills that go into learning showing your learning in a formal setting, as long as the costs (time, stress etc.) do not outweigh the benefits, then this is a good idea periodically.
How 'important' are they?
We know that on the whole for most children, over-emphasising summative assessment, leads learners to lose intrinsic motivation for learning (the research is very clear on this). It can also lead to 'game and gift' responses to learning. E.g. exams and learning become a game to learn to play and give ideal responses, but with no interest in the meaning of the 'game' beyond a grade or score. We also know this is not good for a growth mindset.
For these reasons we seek to make sure students don't over emphasise the outcome of the semester exams, but see them as a chance to learn. For example, we are clear that they cannot contribute more than 20% to the overall grade for the semester on the report. We try to keep them in the 'learning zone' and away from the 'gift and game' zone.
How best to prepare?
Students in advisory and class will have been getting advice on how to prepare. There is a broad mix of strategies depending on the subject and whether it is more knowledge or skill based. Essentially for knowledge having a good 'concept map' of knowledge to make sure individual facts fit into a larger pattern and then effortful recall strategies (like look, cover, write, look; or flash cards) work really well, and for skills it is practice doing it with feedback. So if you want to learn to write an essay, practise writing small parts and get feedback; if you want to learn all the elements of cell, make sure you understand their purpose, and then make flash cards, or use a recall strategy (or get tech to do that for you).
Why have you left the last week of semester clear?
It is really important for learning to have time to reflect in class on the results of the exams and the experience. As Dewey said 'we learn not from experience, but from reflection upon experience'.
It is also important to end the term with space for celebration, reflection on development and relationships, and psychologically close things down. We don't want the feeling of 'running off a cliff', we want the feeling of 'putting the term to bed' and ending with richer thinking and relationships.
Why do you teach the week before exams? Why not shut up shop and just revise, revise, revise?
We do not introduce new content which then appears in the exam, and homework is generally minimised to allow space for revision. But, we do not want to lose a week of learning, or massively overemphasise the 20% of assessment that is the exam over the 80% which is happening every day in class. So we try to strike a balance between these two. Closing all new learning for a week and losing two weeks of teaching would feel like beginning to get the balance wrong between the costs and benefits of having some formal times to have summative assessments of learning.
I hope this has helped frame the experience of semester exams, and I wish your child good luck for the week ahead, and also share a reminder that it is mostly about the process and learning how you work in a formal setting, not only the outcome.
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