Build-Your-Own Exam: Involving Undergraduate Students in Assessment Design and Evaluation to Enhance Self-Regulated Learning

Teaching students how to critically assess their own learning progress is a persistent challenge in undergraduate science education. Engaging students in the design and evaluation of assessments is an emerging method for enhancing self-awareness of one's own competencies, to identify knowledge gaps, and to develop strategies for improved learning. Here, I describe an assessment activity for mid-level undergraduate science courses that directly involves students in the composition, revision, and evaluation of written exams. This activity uses a combination of faculty instruction, peer feedback, and self-assessment to facilitate deep comprehension of the curriculum and to ultimately help increase students' cognitive reasoning and ability to self-regulate their own learning. Instructional resources and alternative activity timelines are provided to promote easy implementation in a variety of course contexts at the post-secondary level.