Why do Students add Extraneous Information on Free Response Exams and Can we Reduce it?

Previous research indicates that one of the most popular strategies utilized by undergraduate biology students on open-ended exams is “include as much as possible.” While this strategy may have possible benefits, it could also have drawbacks such as including extraneous information. My thesis sought to answer two questions: 1) why do students include extraneous information in their responses, and 2) could we design an intervention to help reduce the amount of extraneous information included in students’ answers? To answer the first question, we conducted think-aloud interviews of 26 students enrolled in an upper-division physiology class and asked them to explain their rationale for adding extraneous information in their exams. We identified 6 different categories from the student’s responses. To answer the second question, we implemented a modeling worksheet during discussion sections, based on the theory of cognitive apprenticeship as a potential treatment for extraneousness. The worksheets significantly reduced the amount of extraneous information on both Midterm 1 and Midterm 2 for the treatment section compared to control sections. Our modeling treatment assisted low performing, mid performing, and high performing students lessen the amount of extraneous information on their exams. The treatment section was also significantly better at identifying what extraneous information was. Modeling concise answers for students could be a potential treatment that other professors can use to aid students in their ability to write concisely on free-response open-ended exams