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Cited by 126Student Assessment and FeedbackEvaluation of Teaching PracticesEducational Assessment and Pedagogy

A review of the benefits and drawbacks of high-stakes final examinations in higher education

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French, Sarah, Dickerson, Ashton, Mulder, Raoul A.·2024·Higher Education
DOI 10.1007/s10734-023-01148-z
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Abstract

High-stakes examinations enjoy widespread use as summative assessments in higher education. We review the arguments for and against their use, across seven common themes: memory recall and knowledge retention; student motivation and learning; authenticity and real-world relevance; validity and reliability; academic misconduct and contract cheating; stress, anxiety and wellbeing; and fairness and equity. For each theme, we evaluate empirical evidence for the perceived pedagogical benefits and pedagogical drawbacks of high-stakes examinations. We find that relatively few of the perceived academic benefits of high-stakes examinations have a strong evidence base. Support for their use is largely rooted in opinion and pragmatism, rather than being justified by scientific evidence or pedagogical merit. By contrast, there is substantial evidence for pedagogical drawbacks of high-stakes summative examinations. We conclude that the current heavy reliance on high-stakes final examinations in many university subjects is poorly justified by the balance of empirical evidence.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
French, S., Dickerson, A., & Mulder, R. A.
Affiliations
The University of Melbourne (AU)
Corresponding author
Mulder, Raoul A.
ORCID
Venue
Higher Education
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-12-01
Volume
88
Issue
3
Pages
893-918
ISSN
  • 0018-1560 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-174X
DOI
10.1007/s10734-023-01148-z
OpenAlex
W4389228739
Cited by
126
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 55 · 2025: 51 · 2024: 19 · 2019: 1
FWCI
92.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
Higher Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
University of Melbourne
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
  • Social Sciences › Education › Evaluation of Teaching Practices
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educational Assessment and Pedagogy
Keywords
high-stakes examinations, summative assessment, final examinations, higher education assessment, memory retrieval, knowledge retention, student motivation, academic misconduct, contract cheating, student stress and anxiety, student well-being, reliability and validity, authenticity of assessment

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