Replace Exams with PBL

This week I enjoyed more conversations on how we might offer our students more engaging, authentic opportunities for learning and subsequent assessment. The topic of Project-based Learning (PBL) frequently arises when we search for ways to engage students to create artifacts that represent what they are able to do during and after our time with them. I would like to share a recent article entitled, “Replacing exams with project-based assessment: Analysis of students’ performance and experience” by Gratchev (2023).

The study seeks to investigate whether PBL assignments can lead to better student performance and learning experience compared to traditional exams. In an engineering course of soil mechanics, the mid-semester and final exams were replaced by project work which was related to a real-life site investigation. Student performance was evaluated on the basis of student marks whilst student feedback was analyzed to understand student experience with PBL. The results indicated that the student average mark for PBL was greater than the average mark for the exams. In addition, their learning experience improved after the exams were replaced with PBL because students were able to see practical applications of the concepts.

The author attempts to explore two main questions:

Compared to traditional exams, does PBL lead to better academic performance?
Does PBL provide students with a better learning experience?

The author reminds us that exams appear to be effective assessments for large classes as they are less time-consuming and labor-intensive to implement. However, there are concerns:

Exams are not effective in retaining knowledge as many students only study the content which will be covered, while some students memorize it without understanding it and quickly forget it after the exam (Struyven et al., 2013).
Students adopt a surface approach to learning and consider exams as an end to the learning process, caring only about the grade (Villarroel et al., 2018).
Exams are seen as summative because they do not provide formative feedback (Williams, 2014).
Students have a very high level of stress and anxiety before exams, which significantly affect their wellbeing and performance (Sung, et al., 2016).
Exams may not be practical or have the capacity to assess student practical skills. In relation to student’s industrial careers, it seems unlikely that engineers would be required to do a 2-h exam in the industry (Flores, et al., 2015).

Alternative assessment such as PBL have several advantages:

Students deal with real-life problems, which helps them understand how theories can be applied to solve practical problems. This results in long-term retention and can lead to better learning experiences (Lehmann, 2008).
Students become more motivated when assessments are perceived as authentic. PBL will improve skills such as professional identity and awareness, communication skills, and their employability prospects (Sotiriadou et al., 2022).
Projects are formative assessments which provide timely feedback for improvement that improves performance (Collett, 2008).

Challenges accompany PBL (as with any approach to quality):

Designing an authentic assessment takes more time and resources. Developing effective feedback also requires time and careful thought (Carless, 2015).
Providing timely and personal feedback on projects can amount to a heavier workload (Greenburg, 2007).

References

Gratchev, I. (2023). Replacing exams with project-based assessment: Analysis of students’ performance and experience. Education Sciences, 13(4), 408. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13040408