Hey Travis,

Unfortunately I've only used bell-ringers, and will be using another one this semester. However, I do tack on a question at the end of the exam that is worth a good chunk of the mark that allows the students to showcase some of the things they've learned in lab.

For example, this semester I'm teaching plant ecology, and the lab exam is worth 30%. So I'll have them do 15-20 bell-ringer questions, worth 1-2 marks each, but have a 10-mark question at the end of the exam something to the extent of "Create your own species of plant. Name it, describe it's morphology in terms of the roots, stem, leaves, flowers, and fruit (including any modifications), tell me what habitat it resides in, and describe why it's morphology helps it succeed in that habitat." They're also encouraged to draw pictures and have fun with the question!  

I can envision something similar with zoology: "Create your own species. Name it, describe it's morphology, describe its taxonomy, and explain why it is placed in each particular taxonomic group."

It's broad, but you can refine it in any way you wish. I remember during my undergrad I was asked this question on my Invertebrate Zoology final and it was the most fun I've ever had with an exam question. I think the students appreciate it as it gives them a chance to show you what they know from the material, which isn't always going to be evident on an exam.

Cheers,

Jeff

Thanks Jeff! That sounds like a good idea!

I have also been toying with the idea of running a two-stage exam. I would have the students do the bell-ringer as individuals and this would be worth 85% of their mark. Then would hand in their test, then assemble into groups of 3-4, and do the exam again. They can talk and take more time in this run. This group part will be 15% of the mark. This would allow them to have the interactive group work which increases learning, as well as retention, but still reward those who studied. I would also add the caveat that if  students do better on the individual portion than the group portion,  I take the individual portion as 100% of their mark. This way the group portion can only help, and never hinder! 

Great idea - taking a page out of TBL! 

Hello Travis, in our Faculty of Biology in the University of Oviedo, we don't make exam to the practicum in the laboratory. Here attending to the practicum in the laboratory is obligatory and students have to interprete the preparations (microscopical preparation or visual samples to study under the dissecting microscop) and make their own designs during the practicum. The students have to keep a notebook with their designs and descriptions and at the end of the term the whole staff in Zoology (each teacher get a bulk of notebooks, around 20 each more or less) evaluate these exercises by giving to each student a maximum of 2 points. Criteria are: clean and organized notebook, correct used terminology, correctly written common names and specific names, recognizable schemes and/or designs and completeness of the whole practicum (that is whether they attended to all or only part of the practicum in the laboratory). Other activities that are not properly examinated at once, but evaluated continously, like seminars (a kind of group work presented in a short 15 minute conference) or group tutorials - actually case studies resolved in small groups or exercises of cooperative work using the Jigshaw method - can also get a maximum of 2 points. The mean of all of tese excesrises are made (seminars, practicum in the laboratory and group tutorials ) (the maximum achieved thus can only be 2 points) and this value is summed to the mark of the final theoretical exam which make up 70% of the final mark (that is a maximum of 7 points). To this a maximum of 1 point is added for a visual exam: students have to identify and classify species and this occurr with a chronometer, that is a ring bell system. As students cannot rely only in the markthey obtain in the theoretical exam to pass the subject, they absolutely go to the laboratory. Here we have almost 90% of participation.

I've once tried also to use group dynamics to evaluate the students participation and competences but didn't apply it  for laboratory practicum. The excercise was a mixture of case study and a modified Jigshaw method without "expertice" meeting but can be perfectly used as a laboratory exam. Students had to form groups of maximum 4 or 5  students and had to distribute among each other the functional roles: one had to make the design in the blackboard, one had to write down the answers to the questions, one had to read  the results of the whole group and the rest of the group had to discuss and make decisions about the problem and make a consenus about the results they wanted to present. The students had to find out to which phylum or class pertained a beast that was described by a naturalist from the XIX century and make the desing of the beast on the blackboard. I wrote a kind of letter that a naturalist and zoologist from the XIX century  during an expedition to the deep sea wrote to one colleague in Europe describing with an old and rudimentary  terminology an animal that was collected in the deep see from Southamerica and at the end of the letter I made a few questions in relation to  the misterious beast. The students had to interpret the text, find out what structures, organs or any  part of the animal were described, which was the current terminology used for these parts of the animal and to which phylum and class pertained the beast described. I selected a Solenogaster as problem. The students were very motivated with this excercise. I let them time to read, underline the text, pick out the key words and characters that were important, answer the questions, let them work out the scheme of the animal,  and then called the designer of each group to make the design of the animal on the blackborad basing on the scheme of the group and describe the different part on the blackboard. Of course, I expected a very simple scheme. Then at the end of the excercise the whole classe together with me corrected the answers and design. However such an excersie is feasible for maximum 5 groups, so this means that such an excersie if it shall be examinated the same day to 100 students, it must be done in several turns (at least 4) and by one or two teachers each turn.

Thank you Alexandra! That is fascinating, and I may have to try some of this!

Well, after trying it, let me know how the student reacted and how motivated they were. Good luck!