Examining the Impact of Double Time Tests on Student Experience and Grades: A Multi-Method Study

Nursing education is stressful for students; an inherent quality of a competitive professional degree program leading to a career where client safety and quality healthcare are dependent on graduates with high levels of intellectual and emotional capacities. However, in the interest of student health and well-being, it is worthwhile taking a moment to pause and consider what, if any, stress factors can be minimized or eliminated. This project resulted from such a moment of pause to consider norms related to timed written tests and how the factor of time might be contributing to modifiable student stress. This focus stemmed from our nursing students’ voiced concerns that a lack of time is a major source of their test stress and a key factor impacting their academic success

Purpose: The purpose of this project was two-fold: 1) to explore nursing students’ experience of double time on all major written tests, and 2) to examine the relationship between the time it takes a student to write a test and their grade on that evaluation measure when double time is provided. The setting is a large inter-provincial Canadian Collaborative Bachelor of Nursing (BN) Program.

Methods: A mixed methods descriptive correlational design was used for this study. Using convenience sampling, all students (N=868) within the BN Program during the 2018-2019 academic year were invited to participate in a researcher developed online survey to capture their experience of double time on written tests. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. In regards to the exploration of relationships between test time and grades, data from all students during the same year was automatically included in the sample as is consistent with continuous program evaluation efforts. This data included the length of time each student took to complete a test in minutes as well as the student grade on the test. There was data from a total of 115 written tests across the BN Program.

Student perceptions of the double time as revealed in the online survey were analyzed for themes by the research team using a consensus based approach. In addition, the length of time each student took to complete a test was examined in relation to their grade on the test using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: Qualitative data from completed surveys (N=457) revealed students’ experience of the calming and enabling impact of having double time for all written tests. It also exposed a mix of grateful and ambivalent appraisals of the initiative. Analysis of quantitative data suggests there is no overall consistent relationship between the time a nursing student takes to complete a written test and their grade on that test.

Conclusion: Student demographics shift with time. In the interest of better practices, teaching norms may also require shifting in parallel to demographic changes. The findings of this study provide preliminary evidence that double time on written tests as new norm may help create the learning environment needed to mitigate the stressors of today’s student and enhance the quality of their academic experience.