Tests vs. Fests: Students in 'learning celebrations' rather than exams scored higher and enjoyed themselves

"Assessment is too important for students to dread," said Kevin Dougherty, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences, in the essay "Reframing Test Day," published in Teaching/Learning Matters. "My goal is to create an ambience for assessment that enhances learning and joy."

Students are initially skeptical, 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."

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.

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 said. Over three semesters, nine of 10 students agreed that "I enjoyed the Learning Celebrations in Sociology." Forty-one percent "strongly agreed."

"Learning Celebrations shift the emphasis of assessment from grading to learning," Dougherty said. "When students care about a subject and care about classmates, the potential for deep, lasting learning increases."