Collaborative Quizzes Exams
If you would like to verify that your students comprehend the concepts and skills underlying your group project and if student collaboration is a stated course goal, you may want to consider using collaborative quizzes or exams. During a collaborative quiz or exam, student groups work together to come up with answers to the questions being asked.
Research on collaborative exams have found that they can enhance student learning and retention (Callaghan, et all 2026), benefitting both high- and low-performing students (Kapitanoff, 2009; Gilley, 2014) and reduce student test-taking anxiety (Pandey, 2011; Callaghan et al, 2026).
How to use collaborative quizzes and exams
Group-based formative assessments are one way to hold students accountable for pre-class work. They encourage the group members to discuss the topic and learn it more deeply and encourage group members to work together. Group-based summative assessments provide the opportunity to look back on the knowledge and skills gained and applied through the project.
- To assess knowledge, first, students take the quiz or exam individually and turn it in. Next, they take the same questions or subset of questions together as a group. You could also include an essay question on the group exam that is not included in the individual exam to determine how the group can answer a novel question. Final scores would be some combination of the individual and group score.
- For the group stage, consider using Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) forms to provide students with instant feedback. IF-ATs are scratch-off forms that reveal the correct answer to a multiple-choice question (Cotner, 2008a & b). Groups must work together to discuss the material and come to a consensus before choosing an answer. Research regarding IF-AT forms has shown that students feel more engaged in class and feel that they have learned more (Milton & Landon, 2019).
- Administer a task-based exam. Student groups are given a project or task to finish in a certain amount of time. Students would have to submit or present their solution/approach to the instructor or a panel of instructors to receive their final score which would be the same for everyone in the group.
Group Projects
How to assess group projects
- Break the project into steps and assess each step. Break the group project into logical chunks and assess student work on each chunk and provide them feedback. These assessments could be for points, but still formative in that students would have the opportunity to make corrections on the final project. Divide these up over the course of the semester. This ensures that students won’t procrastinate and will also let groups know they are off-track while they still have time to correct themselves.
- Create and share rubrics for the project when the project is assigned. A rubric is a useful tool to use to make expectations explicit to students, provide for more objective grading, and increase the efficiency and speed of the grading process. Rubrics list the essential elements that must be present in a student project and provides measurable standards at different levels for each element, including the points awarded for each level. You’ll find two sample rubrics below. Google for Education provides a Gemini resource that will guide you in creating a rubric.
- Provide examples of good and not-so-good student work. Show examples of past student projects that represent superior work, acceptable work, and not yet acceptable work. Include commentary on what makes the work superior, acceptable, or not yet acceptable. Student examples can be linked to rubric elements to let students know what you are looking for when you grade.