Upcoming high-stakes exams make students eager to choose effective learning strategies and classroom organization
DOI: 10.24131/3724.230401
Abstract
This paper reveals how students’ preferences for learning strategies covering different dimensions of the learning process, including mode of delivery, assessment, individual learning practices, and class organization, change over the time left until high-stakes exams are taken. We used data from the TICKS 2021 study covering high school students’ preferences. Results show that the anticipation of upcoming high-stakes exams impacts students’ preferences for learning strategies and classroom organization. As the exam date approaches, students increasingly prioritize effective learning methods, although not all the differences revealed in class organization attributes were found to be statistically significant. Secondary school students taking exams in the survey year indicated that they would devote an additional 3.9 hours per week to in-person learning over remote. Those with exams the following year would commit just 0.15 extra hours, while students with exams two years away would forgo 0.4 hours of free time to choose remote over in-person classes. Students closest to their exams were also willing to sacrifice twice as much free time to avoid group work and attend teacher-led classes compared to those with one more year left, and over three times more than those with two more years remaining. Notably, their preferences regarding external factors, such as the organization of classes, were more likely to shift than their preferences for their own learning practices.