The Use of Exam Notes in an Online Mathematics Course

Mindy Capaldi, Valparaiso University

Abstract

Many students want to use cheat sheets, or crib notes, on exams. Whether or not those aids actually help them has not been carefully studied. This paper measures 16 students’ notes by scoring the writing density as well as the number of definitions, examples, and mistakes. To consider the effectiveness of the notes, they are matched against exam solutions. This closer look at the content and application of the online students’ notes revealed that they were neither well- made nor well used.