An International Meeting of the American Accounting Association 2005 Annual Meeting August 7–10, 2005 San Francisco, California Come to the City by the Bay!

Effective Learning Strategies Forum
Monday, August 8, 2005

Session 4
Multiple Versions of the Same Exam: Have You Considered How They May Be Affecting Your Students’ Performance?

Presenter:
Jeffrey J. McMillan, Clemson University

Description:
Several factors have led more and more accounting instructors to administer “multiple” versions of the same exam to their students. First, budget cuts have led to increasing class sizes, which in turn has made the grading of exam problems and short answer questions more difficult to complete in a timely manner. Exacerbating this problem is students’ increased desire for quick feedback. Second, recent surveys show an increased tolerance and willingness of students to cheat. Third, perhaps having the most influence over the increased use of multiple versions of exams is the ease (i.e., no time investment) with which they can be produced. Sophisticated "computerized" exam banks make the printing of multiple versions a simple manner of option selection.

Performance on examinations should be related to students’ understanding/mastery of the subject matter and not to differences in exam design. Students’ performances on multiple versions of the same exams (administered by different professors throughout a full semester) were analyzed. The results revealed that students’ grade performances should not only help those that teach accounting principles, but also help all accounting educators build better examinations.

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