Students score better in 'learning celebrations' than exams

Students in 'learning celebrations' score higher than pupils who take standard-style exams, a new study suggests.
A Baylor University sociologist who reshaped "test day" in his class - transforming it with balloons, streamers, treats and music - found that students in 'learning celebrations' scored higher than those who took exams in previous semesters.
"Assessment is too important for students to dread," said Kevin Dougherty, associate professor of sociology in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences.
"My goal is to create an ambiance for assessment that enhances learning and joy," said Dougherty.
Students are initially sceptical, he said, and "often slip into the familiar language of quizzes and tests."

But "members of our teaching team, myself and two graduate teaching assistants gently remind them that no such activities occur in our course," he said.

The celebrations are used in Dougherty's "Introduction to Sociology" class, which usually has more than 200 students.
In previous research, Dougherty found that students who used a Facebook group as part of a large sociology class did better on course assignments and felt a stronger sense of belonging.
Both studies have implications for the challenge of teaching large classes, a matter of growing concern for higher education, researchers said.
With learning celebrations, Dougherty noted that the mean percentage on exams in three previous semesters, with standard tests, was 84.65; the mean percentage on three semesters of the celebrations was 86.48.

Students consistently did better on learning celebrations, with statistically significant differences, Dougherty said.
More than balloons and music, "the content of learning celebrations is amusing," he said.
Each celebration includes 30 to 40 multiple-choice questions, with classmates featured in many of the questions.
For example, in a celebration dealing with "formal sanction" - such as a fine or expulsion officially imposed to discourage action - a student adopts a ferret and gets evicted from her campus residence hall. Students seem to appreciate reading about each other in the celebrations, Dougherty said.
"I can't remember another time in my teaching when students were so enthusiastic about multiple-choice questions to assess their learning," Dougherty added.