Replication Data for: The relative impact of take-home versus in class examination on students approaches to learning and its relationship with academic outcomes

The current study aimed to first explore the association between examination type (take-home open book examination and in class closed book examination) and student approaches to learning. Second, to evaluate the link between student approaches to learning and academic outcomes. The context of the study is within two cohorts of a graduate and undergraduate course in the social sciences. Specifically, we explore which examination type relates to deeper learning and which related to more surface approaches to learning. We further hypothesized that deep learning approaches will be positively associated with academic outcomes and surface approaches to learning would be negatively associated with academic outcomes. The academic outcomes explored in the study were: examination grade, overall course grade, knowledge retention quiz score and skills development. 184 students filled out a survey including a knowledge retention quiz 4 to 6 months post course completion. Graduate students reported more deep learning than undergraduate students. No difference in deep or surface learning approaches was found based on examination type. Furthermore, deep learning was not associated with any academic outcome. Surface learning in turn was associated with a lower knowledge retention score. Implications for future research are addressed.