By Denelson83 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1067498

I don’t like tests.  As a student, they gave me a lot of anxiety since I’m not a good test taker.  Now, as a teacher, they still give me anxiety since I feel for the students who are like me and I worry that I’ve created a good/fair test.  So what do I do?  For my AP Computer Science Principles course, I must give tests in order to give them the practice they need for their AP test in May.  Although preparing for the AP exam is a great goal, most of all I want my students to be curious, feel confident, and use failure as a guide (not an end).

Thinking about the types of “tests” we have in our lives outside of school, I realize that it’s seldom/never that we have to solve a problem without any resources (other people, the internet, books, etc.).  So, twice last semester, I gave my students a test and allowed/encouraged them to use whatever resources they had available.  Oh how I wish I would have filmed what happened during this class period.  My students had no option but to be fully engaged.  They began by looking through the questions and seeing what they could answer on their own, then they collaborated with others to come up with what they believed to be the correct answer.  One would think that some students would just fish for answers; however, this was not the case.  Students were using the whiteboards to share their thought process and in some cases teach the other students.

Giving this type of test allowed me to challenge my students with more difficult questions.  As I walked around the classroom, I could interact with students – asking them why they selected a specific answer and having them practice their confidence when I questioned their decision.

As I’m writing this, I realize I should have created a survey to gather student feedback on their experiences with our “open-book” tests.  Luckily I have next semester…