TY - JOUR T1 - Public exams may decrease anxiety and deepen critical thinking JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2022.04.15.488479 SP - 2022.04.15.488479 AU - Benjamin L. Wiggins AU - Leah S. Lily AU - Carly A. Busch AU - Mėta M. Landys AU - J. Gwen Shlichta AU - Tianhong Shi AU - Tandi R. Ngwenyama Y1 - 2022/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/08/17/2022.04.15.488479.abstract N2 - Assessment methods across post-secondary education are traditionally constrained by logistics, built on prior practice instead of evidence, and contribute to the widespread inequities in education outcomes. As part of attempts to improve and diversify the methods used in assessment, the authors have developed a flexible and low-tech style known as ‘public exams’ based in best practices. Public exams attempt to bring students authentically into the process of assessment through the use of pre-released portions of the exam. Through an initial mixed-methods research endeavor at a closely-matched pair of a research-intensive university and a community college classroom, we observe signals of positive impact from the public exam on student experiences. Public exams appear to prompt deeper thought, direct students more efficiently to the core concepts in the discipline, and may decrease anxiety in and around exams. The public exam experience does not show evidence for exacerbating gaps in exam outcomes for students from minoritized backgrounds. This evidence suggests that public exams are worth deeper investigation as an evidence-based and effective assessment style.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -