Test Alternatives – Using Escape Rooms and Other Tools to Assess Students

Testing Anxiety

As an adult, I have this recurring dream about taking a test. It’s time for the final, and I didn’t realize the entire semester that I was signed for the class. I show up for the final, and even in my dream I can feel the tightness in my stomach. I wake up feeling anxious and remember the stress and pressure that came with testing in school.

Every teacher and most parents have seen children struggling with test anxiety. When my youngest was in third grade, she would see the timed multiplication fact pages and freeze. She knew her math facts well, but the pressure of having to write them down while being timed completely stressed her out. She watched as her classmates progressed through the all of their multiplication facts while she always fell one problem shy of advancing to the next level. She began to feel stupid, and kids told her she was really bad at math. She began to believe them.

How many students develop negative feelings about math, science, or other subjects because they have testing anxiety? For many of these students, traditional paper and pencil tests are often not the best way to assess actual knowledge and understanding. They can shatter students’ confidence. There is more testing than ever these days due to the pressure teachers are under to demonstrate mastery of standards. Where does that leave students who aren’t the best test takers?

Testing Alternatives

It is important for students to know how to take tests, and to come up with strategies to combat test anxiety, however, traditional tests are not the only means we have for assessing students.

Let the student be the teacher

I once watched a student’s face fall as they were handed back their test – a 72%. Moments later, I asked that same student to help teach the main concept from the test to a classmate who was struggling with the material. That “C student” taught creating equivalent ratios in a clear, concise way to their classmate, who finally got it! Watching students teach material to their classmates can give teachers insight into what they understand as well as areas that they may need support. This is especially important for students with testing anxiety as their test results often do not fully reflect their knowledge and understanding of the concepts.

Use games to review and assess understanding

Especially in younger grades, it is possible to “gamify” content. Many elementary math skills can be practiced and assessed with dice games and having students record equations and answers. Having the element of rolling dice, spinning a spinner, or drawing a task card can take pressure of of students and make an assessment feel more like a game.

Use task cards with individual “test” questions

Seeing all of the questions and problems on a sheet of paper can be daunting to some students. Breaking questions up onto task cards and having a recording page for students to document their answers can feel a lot less intimidating. You can also have different task cards located at different areas of the room. Allowing students to move around the classroom to answer “test” questions on task cards will help many students to feel more relaxed and not even realize that they are completing an assessment.

Turn the test into an escape room

I started creating math escape rooms for my own children when we were homeschooling. They were tired of worksheets and hated tests, but they would work incredibly hard when they had a fun goal of escaping from Antarctica or a haunted house. I was surprised with some of the feedback I got when I began selling educational escape rooms. I wanted to design fun activities for students to review math material, but I have had many teachers tell me that they have used my products as alternative assessments at the end of certain math units. While escape rooms are best done in small groups, they can sometimes lend themselves well for use with individual assessment. Here are a few things to look for when using escape rooms as assessment alternative:

• Create or purchase an escape room that is standards-based and focuses on the specific skills you are trying to assess.
• Make sure that the challenge level isn’t too high that it will frustrate students to complete independently (without the support of a group to collaborate with).
• Do a trial run of the escape room before assigning it to your students. Many escape rooms that use Google Forms^TM can be edited and adapted to be able to differentiate.
• For math escape rooms, have students use a recording page to show their work. This will allow you to document their work for the standard you are focusing on.
• Create a survey or form for students to complete to evaluate their experience with the escape room. Ask open-ended questions such as, “which puzzles did you find the most challenging and why?”
• Many virtual escape rooms use formats that allow teachers to view student results. This is great for assessment! 

Try it out & share your tips!

We’d love to hear about your experiences using alternative forms of assessment in your classroom. Have you seen a struggling student shine when given a new way to demonstrate her knowledge? Share your tips and successes in the comments!