The Positive and Negative Effects of Exit Exams in Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Exit exams in higher education are given before students graduate having multiple purposes. Exit exams affect higher education either positively or negatively. This systematic literature review aimed to synthesize the existing literature on the positive and negative effects of exit exams in higher education. In the literature search, the researcher used different electronic databases. Search terms were formulated and applied to the online databases. The databases used were ERIC, Google Scholar, JSTOR, and Researchgate. A total of 111 study articles were identified, and 20 studies were included in the study after applying inclusion, exclusion, and quality assessment criteria. The review process was guided by the principal research question—what are the positive and negative effects of exit exams in higher education? Problem Intervention Comparisons Outcome (PICO) was used to formulate the research question. The paper was prepared using the planning, protocol, extraction, analysis, and reporting stages. This systematic review followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) criteria and used Zotero for reference management. The systematic literature review revealed that exit exams have both positive and negative effects on the students, instructors, administrators, curriculum, and higher education intuitions. To this effect, attempts must be made to maximize the positive and minimize the negative effects of exit exams in higher education.