The impact of external resource use on the validity of score interpretation for a biology concept assessment administered out-of-class.

Instructors use concept assessments to gauge student knowledge and guide course improvement. Many instructors experience time and logistical constraints around administering these assessments in class. For this reason, administering concept assessments outside of class can help increase feasibility. While previous studies have cautioned that the use of external resources (e.g., internet, course notes, peers) in the out-of-class setting may inflate assessment scores, the extent to which undergraduate students access various resources when completing concept assessments is unknown. The current study uses two survey question formats to better understand whether students engage with external resources when taking a biology concept assessment under a low-stakes out-of-class condition. Students were informed that they would receive participation credit for completing the assessment irrespective of the correctness of their responses and were asked not to consult their peers or other external resources. Immediately after the assessment, students self-reported on their external resource use via closed-ended and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions revealed that nearly half (45%) of all students reported using external resources to some degree, while open-ended questions detected comparatively less resource use, particularly related to internet use. Reported resource use was associated with concept assessment scores, suggesting that this behavior undermines the interpretation of scores as measures of unaided student knowledge.