Bethe Ansatz: Learning While Testing: Using Oral Assessment to Teach Inquiry

Darlene Campbell
Senior Lecturer, Office of Undergraduate Biology
Bethe House Fellow

To foster the skill of scientific inquiry application that is critical to STEM professionals, we developed a process in which we provided explanatory feedback to supplemental inquiry-based questions during oral examinations. Analysis of student performance receiving this feedback revealed improvement in students’ abilities to critically analyze results, draw conclusions, and discuss the broader implications of data. Equally as valuable, students reported that their confidence in discussing and critiquing research findings increased. Our results are encouraging and will hopefully promote the incorporation of scientific inquiry into varied modes of assessment among STEM classes.

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