PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2015
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
An analysis of proof-based final exams
Page: 112
Evaluating final exams can give insight into what aspects of a course instructors value the most. This study examines whether final exams in proof-based courses accurately reflect instructors’ perceptions of their exams. It also categorizes the questions on the exams in terms of type, format, and cognition level. The level of cognition was further distinguished by imitative reasoning and creative reasoning. Results indicate that instructors of proof- based classes are relatively aware of the content of their exams. The largest discrepancy between instructor perception and reality concerned the number of application problems. Analysis also showed that about a fifth of the questions and over half of the points are proof- related. The exams were almost entirely short or broad answer and required high cognition levels when proofs were assumed to require creativity.