Examining Student Participation in Two-Phase Collaborative Exams through Video Analysis

TL;DR

This study analyzes student participation in two-phase collaborative exams through video analysis, revealing how individual correctness and group composition influence engagement and learning benefits.

Contribution

It provides detailed video-based insights into participation patterns and the effects of group heterogeneity on student engagement during collaborative exams.

Findings

Maximum participation occurs when at least one group member was incorrect in the solo phase.

Students correct during the solo phase participate more than those incorrect.

Heterogeneous groups benefit strong students most, homogeneous groups show no clear advantage.

Abstract

In this study we coded, for individual student participation on each question, the video of twenty-seven groups interacting in the group phase of a variety of two-phase exams. We found that maximum group participation occurred on questions where at least one person in the group had answered that question incorrectly during the solo phase of the exam. We also observed that those students that were correct on a question during the solo phase have higher participation than those that were incorrect. Finally we observed that, from a participation standpoint, the strongest (weakest) students seem to benefit the most (least) from heterogeneous groups, while homogeneous groups do not seem to favor students of any particular performance level.