Exam Experiences, Motivational Beliefs, and Belonging in First-Year University Physics Students: Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Jessie Durk, Amy Smith, Nabihah Rahman, and Rebekah Christie

For many students, particularly those studying math or science disciplines, such as physics, high-stakes written exams carry a lot of importance, not just for access and participation but also for recognition, motivation, and their sense of belonging. 

In 2020, however, the traditional way students sat for exams was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I had conversations with colleagues in early 2021 about how incoming students’ attitudes and beliefs might be affected by cancelled secondary school exams. Following this, we set about investigating this for our context—one in which students place a great deal of importance on doing well in exams—in the form of a staff-student partnership. What better way to investigate this phenomenon than to work with undergraduate students who themselves had experienced either their secondary school exams being cancelled or remote online exams at university? 

At Imperial, undergraduate students can work collaboratively with staff on various teaching and learning projects, such as curriculum design, pedagogy development, or scholarly research. What I liked about this initiative, despite having little experience of staff-student partnerships myself, was the emphasis on staff and students working together as partners, rather than as supervisor-supervisees. This proved invaluable for our project: the students shaped and guided our research based on what was important to them and their own exam experiences and perspectives. As a result, our project hugely benefited from this collaborative nature, as our student researchers assisted with and even led various aspects of our research study.   

Based on our findings, the student researchers created a welcome booklet (see the photograph) for future cohorts to assist with their transition into university and sitting exams. We have since rolled this out to three cohorts. It is exciting that one staff-student partnership can have such an impact, and I have learned so much from the experience. 

Read the TLI article here.