The time you take an oral exam could affect whether you pass or fail
Certain university courses, such as languages, have oral exams
Shutterstock / peopleimages.com – Yuri has
University students are more likely to take oral exams if they are taken around noon, according to a study of more than 100,000 assessments.
Carmelo Vicario at the University of Messina, Italy, was inspired to investigate after meeting a study that suggests that the decisions of the judges are affected by the proximity of a meal. “I was trying to see if it could be true in education,” explains Vicario.
With his colleagues, Vicario has combed in a public database to collect information on the results and schedules of more than 104,500 oral assessments taken by around 19,000 university students in Italy. The tests took place between October 2018 and February 2020 and came from 1243 courses.
They found that on average, the success rates were 54% at 8 a.m., increasing at 72% at noon, then falling to 51% at 4 p.m. “We found this beautiful distribution of data in the form of a bell,” explains Vicario.
This was consistent in all types of oral assessments, such as linguistic examinations and research presentations. But Vicario admits that we do not know if it also applies to written tests.
“There are many external factors that affect students’ performance,” said Thomas Lancaster at Imperial College in London. “Planning is one – Whether it’s time of day or even gaps between exams.”
Why such a variation is difficult to undo. This can be summed up with the students’ chronotypes – the natural inclination of our body to sleep at a certain time, which determines if we are a time up or a night bird.
Research suggests that the youngest are more likely to be nightmares and can promote a lie. This can be worried with the chronotypes of their former examiners, and therefore the closest point where they align would go around noon.
At that time of day, there can be a balance between a student who works well and a generous examiner with his scores. “As always, the best thing is something in the middle,” explains Vicario, who hopes research will help universities plan the hours of their oral exams.
“Personally, I am happy to use this data to say that we should not plan the vivas of students [oral assessments where you defend your thesis to examiners] or presentations evaluated before 10 am, “explains Lancaster.” I’m sure it will also make teachers happier. “”
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