Benefits of a Low-Stakes Write-to-Learn Assignment on Exam Performance

Abstract

This study examined whether a low-stakes write-to-learn (WTL) assignment improved exam performance. Students in one section of a child development course completed five assignments during a semester, whereby they identified 15 key concepts and related them to six themes (e.g., nature and nurture). Students in another section did not. Students who completed the WTL assignments performed significantly better in Exams 2 and 3 than students in the control condition. Within-group analyses indicated that only the students in the WTL condition improved exam performance and maintained that higher level of performance. Results suggest that WTL assignments that require students to review and apply course content produce modest benefits to learning and retention without unduly taxing instructors’ time.

Writing to Learn: A Framework for Structuring Writing Assignments to Support Analytics Course Learning Goals

“…The goal of using a low-stakes writing assignment would be to support technical learning goals of the course. Stevenson (2020) finds that using low-stakes writing helped improve student performance in connecting concepts and broader organizational themes of the course as demonstrated through test performance. Other examples mentioned in Section 2 are Saulnier (2016), Sharp et al (1999), Elder and Champine (2016), and Theoret and Luna (2009).…”