Physics exam preparation: A comparison of three methods

• Main Authors: Witat Fakcharoenphol, Timothy Stelzer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society 2014-03-01
• Series: Physical Review Special Topics. Physics Education Research
• Online Access: http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010108

In this clinical study on helping students prepare for an exam, we compared three different treatments. All students were asked to take a practice exam. One group was then given worked-out solutions for that exam, another group was given the solutions and targeted exercises to do as homework based on the result of their practice exam, and the third group was given the solutions, homework, and also an hour of one-on-one tutoring. Participants from all three conditions significantly outperformed the control group on the midterm exam. However, participants that had one-on-one tutoring did not outperform the other two participant groups.