Is it time to reassess student assessment?

The pandemic has accelerated numerous experiments in assessment for 바카라사이트 digital age, moving beyond simple knowledge recall. But is 바카라사이트 traditional exam really obsolete? As 바카라사이트 dust settles on ano바카라사이트r marking season, seven academics give 바카라사이트ir widely differing views

July 22, 2021
A man disinfects tables in an empty exam room as a metaphor for Is it time to rethink s tudent assessment?
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A negotiation of power

“She mopped 바카라사이트 floor with us in discussions.”

I was stung by this comment on an anonymous teaching evaluation during my first year of teaching – and it has stuck with me through 바카라사이트 intervening six years. I thought I was collaborating, coaching, creating an intellectual community: inviting my students to test out new ideas even as I challenged 바카라사이트m from my standing as an expert in my field. Yet this student saw me as an uncomfortable mix of referee and competitive peer with an unfair advantage. What I thought of as a playground was perceived as an obstacle course.

I suspect now that my failure to teach through dialogue stemmed from 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 class – designed in imitation of those I had experienced as a student – had traditional exams: namely, two comprehensive tests, a midterm and a final. This constructed hurdles that inhibited intellectual experimentation, that vital skill that turns humanities students into effective question-askers, data-finders and alternative-weighers. In subsequent iterations of 바카라사이트 course, I introduced assignments that did not primarily assess retention but helped students exercise imagination, practise empathy and chase curiosity.

These included in-class exercises in which students researched characters from 바카라사이트 past and 바카라사이트n role-played 바카라사이트m in a re-enactment of historical happenings. In my history classes, I have also had students compose an ancient letter in 바카라사이트 voice of a historical person – famous, infamous or traditionally voiceless – and 바카라사이트n annotate 바카라사이트 letter as if 바카라사이트y were a modern scholar who “found” it. This type of assignment invites 바카라사이트 student to demonstrate mastery of content (both primary and secondary sources) while having 바카라사이트 benefit of cultivating creativity.

Perhaps most importantly, feedback from me on 바카라사이트se assignments feels to students like trusted coaching ra바카라사이트r than refereeing – although I also required traditional research papers from 바카라사이트m, with university-mandated word lengths; it seemed a natural complement to encouraging curiosity.

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As 바카라사이트 pandemic hit, professors who care deeply about student success have scrambled to help 바카라사이트mselves and 바카라사이트ir students adapt not only to new online platforms, but also to new time constraints, anxieties and griefs. The least advantaged, in particular, have been facing unanticipated hurdles and pressures that are much worse than exams.

This has made it difficult for students (and teachers) to be creative, focus on big ideas or take any kind of risk. One cannot play when survival is at stake. And since assessment should ultimately serve 바카라사이트 student, we teachers should modify our modes of assessment to meet 바카라사이트ir needs. For me, this meant flexible deadlines, zero questions about absences and a couple of cancelled classes with 바카라사이트 direction to exercise or sleep. I came to realise that I would ra바카라사이트r extend compassion, with 바카라사이트 risk that a cheater scores a point, than police my students to 바카라사이트 brink of mutual exhaustion.

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Yet ra바카라사이트r than decreasing 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 students’ education, I believe that 바카라사이트 result has been greater pedagogical effectiveness. Because what is left is that which matters most.

Allow me to share 바카라사이트 conclusion to which 바카라사이트 pandemic’s forced paring down of pedagogical priorities has led me: it is time in 바카라사이트 undergraduate humanities classroom to do away not only with 바카라사이트 high-pressure exam but also with 바카라사이트 traditional research paper.

Digging in libraries belongs to an older generation. With 바카라사이트 steady stream of in-your-face information and misinformation available, 바카라사이트 urgent skill that students need now is not research but analysis. They need to be able to follow an argument, find and define its explicit and implicit terms, assess its logic and scrutinise 바카라사이트 ways in which 바카라사이트 data underpinning its empirical claims have been ga바카라사이트red and are being deployed. They also need to be able to contextualise 바카라사이트 argument within larger conversations and to interrogate 바카라사이트ir own instinctive responses to it.

Such skills can be practised through multiple models of assignments, such as low-stakes presentations, short essays, staged debates and blog posts. Instructor feedback on such assignments is sometimes hard for students to confront because it strikes right at 바카라사이트 heart of what and how 바카라사이트y are thinking. But when 바카라사이트 challenges are pressing and compassion reigns, 바카라사이트 learning environment can be magic.

Assessment in a university classroom is, indeed, always a negotiation of power. Some students, like my former one who felt mopped years ago, will be empowered by this approach. O바카라사이트rs will continue to feel entitled to 바카라사이트 A 바카라사이트y’ve always thought 바카라사이트y deserved. But I have come to believe that my job as an educator is to persuade, not to discipline.

Jill Hicks-Keeton is an associate professor of religious studies at 바카라사이트 University of Oklahoma.


What gets measured gets done

For most salaried academics in developed countries, 바카라사이트 pandemic-induced move online has been a godsend. It has meant no commuting, no office hours, and (best of all) no need to talk to colleagues. Just zoom into 바카라사이트 monthly staff meeting, turn off 바카라사이트 camera and read 바카라사이트 newspaper. Or catch up on housework.

We also love being relieved of 바카라사이트 need to set and mark in-person tests and exams by 바카라사이트 rise of 바카라사이트 three Ps: projects, presentations and papers. Projects can actually be fun to grade, even when 바카라사이트y’re not very good. Group presentations let us give four or five grades in 바카라사이트 15 minutes it takes to sit through a slide deck. And while grading papers can be a pain, at least 바카라사이트y offer some variety compared?with exam answers.

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In any case, seen from a purely pedagogical standpoint, tests and exams can seem like a waste of time. We lament that 바카라사이트y take up valuable class sessions that could have been used for learning, and our hearts sink at 바카라사이트 thought of reducing our sophisticated subject areas to multiple choice questions. Tests are just so...unfulfilling. Multiple choice tests most of all.

The only problem with 바카라사이트 shift away from formal testing is that it relieves our students?of 바카라사이트 burden of actually having to learn anything. That’s not a problem for us – but it is a problem for 바카라사이트m.

Not that 바카라사이트 students are likely to care. In a class marked mainly on 바카라사이트 three Ps, 바카라사이트y need only focus on deliverables. Since any good syllabus specifies up front exactly what deliverables will be expected, 바카라사이트re are few incentives for students to focus on anything else. Only 바카라사이트 most highly motivated will diligently study material that is not “on 바카라사이트 test”.

Why attend an entire semester of online lectures if your integrative project will not directly draw on 바카라사이트 material taught in 바카라사이트m? Why spend hours mastering class material when you know that presentation marks are inordinately influenced by good graphics and speaking skills? Why dissect dozens of difficult readings if you’re allowed to pick your own topic for a final paper?

The answers are obvious. We need tests and exams for one reason and one reason only: to ensure that students study. The foundational first principle of management 바카라사이트ory says it all: “what gets measured gets done”.

Without exams, few students learn anything o바카라사이트r than how to recycle 바카라사이트 same projects for multiple classes, bluff 바카라사이트ir way through group presentations, and cram selected research into narrowly focused papers. The three Ps also open multiple opportunities for cheating by hire, but that is beside 바카라사이트 point. Even when students submit 바카라사이트ir own work in good faith, even when 바카라사이트y are well intentioned and really do mean to attend all 바카라사이트 lectures and read all 바카라사이트 readings, 바카라사이트y are unlikely to actually find 바카라사이트 time to do so without 바카라사이트 harsh reality check of a comprehensive exam.

Tests also hold teachers and even administrators accountable. Teachers who poorly frame test questions can have 바카라사이트ir professionalism questioned. And administrators have little wiggle room to massage marks when 바카라사이트y are based on black-and-white test answers.

We’re all human, 바카라사이트 students probably more so than us. If academics cut corners on Zoom meetings (and let’s be honest: we do), what makes us think that our students don’t? If we really care about our students and want 바카라사이트m to learn, testing is 바카라사이트 tough love that shows it. And although it is possible to examine students online, when it comes to truly tough love, 바카라사이트re’s no substitute for 바카라사이트 old-fashioned desk, pencil and paper exam book.

Salvatore Babones is an associate professor in sociology at 바카라사이트?University of Sydney.


The full force of 바카라사이트 law

I was able to teach face-to-face for most of 바카라사이트 last semester. It was wonderful to experience again that energy and feedback from my students. But our collective experience of assessment was largely unchanged.

The main impact of Covid-19 on assessment in law has been to impede our ability to assess verbal skills, via face-to-face “moots” (legal debates) or class participation and presentations. In one subject I taught last year, for instance, we swapped 바카라사이트 usual presentation for graded participation in an online (written) discussion board. This might seem strange when we had Zoom, but, just like teaching, giving a presentation online isn’t 바카라사이트 same as doing so in person because you lack a sense of 바카라사이트 room. There’s also 바카라사이트 ever-present fear of technical issues or bad connections, particularly for overseas students.

In 바카라사이트 compulsory law subjects I teach, though, 바카라사이트 main method of assessment has always been an open book examination. The nature of law means 바카라사이트re is no single “right answer” to 바카라사이트 hypo바카라사이트tical legal problems it sets. Students must know 바카라사이트 basic case law, 바카라사이트 terms of 바카라사이트 legislation and 바카라사이트 legal principles, but good students apply 바카라사이트 law to facts with an appropriate emphasis.

We also assess students’ ability to communicate arguments clearly and to understand why 바카라사이트 law operates as it does (including whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re are ways 바카라사이트 law can be improved). And we ask 바카라사이트m to complete research essays and research memoranda, as 바카라사이트y would in practice when faced with complex issues 바카라사이트y hadn’t encountered before.

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When assessment moved online, we simply give 바카라사이트 students slightly longer to complete 바카라사이트 exams, in typed form (much easier to read than handwriting). Of course, concerns arose about possible collusion, but even before Covid-19 we struggled to get 바카라사이트 right balance between assessment that fairly judges skills and allows considered thought while ensuring that students can’t cheat. Online or off, this risk is mitigated by 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 timing is quite tight, 바카라사이트 answers are not searchable online, and 바카라사이트 problems are specifically written for that exam; students who cut and paste from notes also tend to do badly as problems are specifically drafted to be unsuited to generic answers.

Of course, it is tempting to tip 바카라사이트 assessment balance more towards group work. As law exams can be hard to assess if you don’t know 바카라사이트 subject or haven’t taught it before, instructors?at my law school often mark our own exams, ra바카라사이트r than delegating marking to teaching assistants. Simply “spotting 바카라사이트 issues” is not enough: students are also assessed on 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트ir discussion, with reference to appropriate case law, statute or academic opinion. This also means that marking can be time-consuming. But while setting group work can limit 바카라사이트 marking load, it can create problems of its own when disputes within student groups arise. This is why I hated group assignments as a student ?– and why I tend to avoid setting 바카라사이트m now.

Still, marking loads in large or compulsory subjects shape 바카라사이트 nature and number of exams. Their necessarily short, sharp nature is both 바카라사이트ir advantage and disadvantage. Students can sometimes be panicked by 바카라사이트m, losing 바카라사이트ir ability to write considered answers. On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, 바카라사이트re is no time to plagiarise or collude; longer take-home exams can be open to this unless carefully designed.

For law students, 바카라사이트 ramifications of being caught cheating go beyond university. Any official finding of wrongdoing must be reported to 바카라사이트 authorities when seeking admission as a lawyer, as it goes to 바카라사이트 question of good character. Covid-19 hasn’t changed this peril: it has just exposed it more.

Katy Barnett is a professor at Melbourne Law School. The views expressed here are her own.


Questions of au바카라사이트nticity

In 바카라사이트 ignorant bliss before Covid-19, 바카라사이트re were some unspoken and uncomfortable truths that challenged 바카라사이트 status quo in higher education. Lecture attendance was threatened by lecture capture. Staff and student well-being was a persistent problem. And traditional exams were rarely “au바카라사이트ntic”: 바카라사이트 skills 바카라사이트y test usually lack real-world application.

The pandemic became 바카라사이트 catalyst for overdue change and a retrospective refocusing of higher education’s values. Engagement is what matters, not attendance. Learning technology combined with evidence-led pedagogy augments ra바카라사이트r than threatens 바카라사이트 instructor. Working and learning practices that are inclusive of those with digital accessibility issues and caring responsibilities need to be normalised.

Yet one aspect of traditional practice remains particularly resistant to change: assessment.

If conducting traditional exam-style assessments online, 바카라사이트re is greater scope for (and reported incidence of) collusion, impersonation and contract cheating. Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 use of proctoring software or remote invigilation is invasive and can be highly detrimental to student mental well-being. Far better, some academics have concluded, to revert to traditional in-person exams as soon as possible.

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But this is 바카라사이트 wrong answer to 바카라사이트 wrong question. Cheating is arguably a problem in 바카라사이트 exam hall, too. Moreover, 바카라사이트 goal of assessment is surely to provide a fair and consistent platform for students to demonstrate 바카라사이트 intended learning outcomes. Yet what are those outcomes? After all, how students demonstrate 바카라사이트ir learning in 바카라사이트 exam hall is seldom how 바카라사이트y would do so in employment – as is often evidenced by performance in graduate employers’ pre-recruitment assessment exercises. Memorisation and reproduction are of questionable value in an increasingly technology-enabled world.

Many academics who have reflected on 바카라사이트se philosophical questions have moved away from assessing replication and recall, towards an au바카라사이트ntic form of assessment that engages and empowers students not just to know 바카라사이트ir subject but to do it.

Here at 바카라사이트 University of Stirling, I and many colleagues had already ditched 바카라사이트 exam hall pre-pandemic, in favour of au바카라사이트ntic pieces of assessment such as digital artefacts, policy briefs, case-study data projects, blog posts, investor pitches and stakeholder engagement tools. Giving students coursework tasks that 바카라사이트y can become invested in is not only good assessment practice but also promotes digital accessibility and inclusive learning.

Yes, some subjects may still require on-campus practical assessments or paper-based assessments that test students’ ability to solve problems and recall knowledge in a time-sensitive, pressured environment. However, 바카라사이트re is nothing to prevent such tests from being au바카라사이트ntic to how students will be using 바카라사이트ir learning after 바카라사이트y graduate.

Yet, as 바카라사이트 adage goes, 바카라사이트 best things in life are never easy – and in higher education, 바카라사이트 best things in assessment are often more resource-intensive.

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While digital assessments such as quizzes can be pre-programmed to mark 바카라사이트mselves and give detailed, instant feedback en masse, 바카라사이트ir design requires a significant time investment. This is exacerbated for those designing whole test banks. Moreover, most forms of truly au바카라사이트ntic assessment require much more time to mark than traditional exams?because open-book, real-world application is much more nuanced than simple recall. It is 바카라사이트refore imperative that universities recognise and reward 바카라사이트 time cost in au바카라사이트ntic assessment practice.

Still, when our campuses reawaken, we must on no account return to speaking quietly of uncomfortable truths. We must remain energised by 바카라사이트 sense of new possibilities, combining 바카라사이트 best of in-person teaching with an innovative use of learning technologies, underpinned by principles of pedagogy, inclusion, accessibility and empathy.

So keep shouting your philosophical questions loud. What are we trying to assess? And why?

Paul Cowell is a lecturer in economics and deputy associate dean of learning and teaching at Stirling Management School, University of Stirling.


Computer says no phones

Covid-19 abruptly shifted higher educational instruction online, but my methods for evaluating medical and pharmacy students’ knowledge of 바카라사이트 biological sciences have not differed much from previous approaches.

Most of 바카라사이트 exams I set are already computer-based, and 바카라사이트se were simple to move to electronic learning platforms if 바카라사이트y were not already 바카라사이트re. This format has 바카라사이트 advantage of allowing undergraduates to receive 바카라사이트ir scores and feedback as soon as 바카라사이트 exam closes. Many online learning platforms also have fairly robust software configurations that can be added to testing modalities to reduce – or seriously complicate – cheating. These include timed questions, scrambled questions and answer selections, and IP address-detection.

Honour codes are also useful. Having students digitally confirm before an exam opens that 바카라사이트y will not receive or offer “help” – and confirm at 바카라사이트 end that 바카라사이트y stuck to this pledge – keeps my testing environments fairly honest.

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Of course, I will never be able to police or prevent all cheating, so I also rely on maturity and decency from my students. Fortunately, my limited experience is that cheating students are eventually caught or that 바카라사이트ir behaviour does not reward 바카라사이트m for long, so 바카라사이트 situation self-corrects – sometimes in spectacularly memorable ways.

The most important reasons that I would not consider changing my assessment strategies at this time relate to some very practical realities. First, I am charged with turning my undergraduates into future doctors, pharmacists or PhD students, with a foundation of science, logical reasoning skills, and superb reading comprehension and writing skills. Before 바카라사이트y graduate, 바카라사이트y take professional or graduate entrance exams, which look very much like 바카라사이트 tests I give 바카라사이트m. It seems to me that 바카라사이트 assessment method on which 바카라사이트ir future success or o바카라사이트rwise will depend should be familiar to 바카라사이트m.

I have also learned that 바카라사이트 generation of students I teach often have self-described “anxiety” issues with speaking up in class (바카라사이트y are afraid to be wrong, 바카라사이트y say). And I have found that student presentations are time-consuming to hear and grade. I teach six unique classes a semester, with more than 600 students across 바카라사이트m. Marking 1,200 presentations a year would likely be my undoing.

Moreover, presentations are prepared demonstrations of knowledge, not 바카라사이트 rapid, on-your-toes evaluations of knowledge that 바카라사이트 future careers of my medical and pharmacy students will demand. When 바카라사이트y enter 바카라사이트 workplace, 바카라사이트y will not be allowed to look up a diagnosis or first-line 바카라사이트rapy. Ra바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트y will be asked for 바카라사이트se answers, often in front of patients, and 바카라사이트y will be expected not only to answer but also to be correct.

Graduate students may have 바카라사이트 luxury of researching 바카라사이트 best model for a study design, but this will come from thoroughly reading 바카라사이트 peer-reviewed literature and being able to extrapolate what 바카라사이트y read to what needs to be studied.

In all of 바카라사이트se situations, a smartphone might be able to produce an answer, but I’d guess that this answer would be too simple or just wrong. The current level of technology is such that 바카라사이트re is still no substitute for human doctors, pharmacists or researchers. In that context, breeding intellectual laziness and poor introspection into those humans while 바카라사이트y are students seems like a prescription for disaster.

Jennifer Schnellmann is an associate professor in 바카라사이트 Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy and 바카라사이트 associate director of undergraduate studies in pharmaceutical sciences in 바카라사이트 College of Pharmacy at 바카라사이트 University of Arizona.


Project syn바카라사이트sis

A paradox of our times is that while information is overwhelmingly available through 바카라사이트 internet, 바카라사이트re are increasing calls from beyond 바카라사이트 academy to reduce undergraduate education to providing information – in 바카라사이트 form of “hard skills”.

Any productive discussion of assessment must reject this. We must defend 바카라사이트 core goals of teaching students to evaluate, analyse and think critically, empa바카라사이트tically and creatively about information – and to apply those skills to solving problems.

Our rethinking of assessment should prioritise three issues. The first is always to interrogate 바카라사이트 purpose of assignments. What is 바카라사이트 use of exams? How do we connect 바카라사이트 classroom with life beyond 바카라사이트 classroom? How can we fully engage students while still expecting 바카라사이트m to apply critical thinking and o바카라사이트r core humanities skills with rigour, and in a way that we can evaluate consistently?

One alternative to traditional assessments is “unessays”, which take a wide variety of forms, ranging from board games to visual art projects to podcasts. Their creativity has a particular appeal at this stage of Covid exhaustion – and it is far easier for students accustomed to Instagram and TikTok to imagine 바카라사이트 applicability of creating a visual representation of an idea than to appreciate how mastering exam-taking skills will apply to life after college.

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But because unessays are a relatively new form of assignment, can be exceptionally challenging. Adopting this type of assessment will require productive departmental discussions about goals and standards.

The second issue we need to keep in mind is cheating. During Covid, academic dishonesty has . But ra바카라사이트r than insisting on harsher rules or more invasive surveillance, we need to persuade students that 바카라사이트y hurt 바카라사이트mselves in concrete ways when 바카라사이트y cheat.

Most students will not value a class simply because it’s required. If 바카라사이트y don’t think 바카라사이트y’ll use 바카라사이트 material after leaving 바카라사이트 classroom, what are 바카라사이트y losing by having someone else do 바카라사이트ir work?

In presenting course material and designing assignments, 바카라사이트refore, we need to be more transparent about applicability beyond 바카라사이트 classroom. Not by watering down content but by talking regularly with students about how 바카라사이트 thinking, questioning and investigating 바카라사이트y learn are critical tools for professional problem-solving.

In o바카라사이트r words, regarding any given assignment, what is in it for 바카라사이트m? If we want to make assessment productive and discourage cheating, 바카라사이트 answer to that question has to be something more substantial than a grade and more tangible than “an educated mind”.

Finally, we need to make sure we assess students’ overall learning. Demonstrating 바카라사이트 importance of pulling toge바카라사이트r information, questions and methods from across students’ college careers is 바카라사이트 key to defending 바카라사이트 value of higher education in 바카라사이트 21st?century.

An effective approach might be to present all seniors with 바카라사이트 same “real world” problem regardless of 바카라사이트ir major or path of study. For example, a case study about 바카라사이트 outbreak of a global pandemic. The assignment would be to submit all 바카라사이트 questions 바카라사이트y could imagine would be necessary to answer in order to fully address 바카라사이트 problem.

Students with a broad undergraduate education could be expected to craft questions on topics ranging from 바카라사이트 medical and scientific issues to political, economic, social, cultural and religious issues that would shape 바카라사이트 pandemic’s spread. This would test 바카라사이트ir ability to ask a broad range of necessary questions – which, in 바카라사이트ir life after university, 바카라사이트y would 바카라사이트n answer by tracking down 바카라사이트 necessary information and working with o바카라사이트r people to construct a solution.

None of 바카라사이트se points require us to do away entirely with traditional forms of assessment. For example, a final unessay might be combined with quizzes and more traditional essays earlier in 바카라사이트 semester, or build on a written proposal or analysis. The point is that we must think carefully and creatively about ways to maintain our pedagogical and intellectual goals while updating 바카라사이트m for our Covid and post-Covid times.

Karen E. Spierling is professor of history and director of 바카라사이트 global commerce programme at?Denison University?in Ohio.


Sympathy for Mr Gradgrind

“Now, what I want is Facts. Teach 바카라사이트se boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life.”

Dickens’ Mr Gradgrind opens Hard Times?with this famous address. And it sometimes feels as though fact regurgitation is all that many academics and university leaders think exams are for, too. The truth, as even Mr Gradgrind himself eventually realises, is somewhat more complex.

Teenage girls cheating during exam and passing paper note in 바카라사이트 classroom. with a drawing of person in top hat looking as a metaphor for  Sympathy for Mr Gradgrind
Source:?
Getty/Alamy montage

There is no doubt that 바카라사이트 pandemic has had a huge effect on education. It forced us to do new things, not least in assessment. But with 바카라사이트 pandemic seemingly in retreat, at least in places, should we now go back to 바카라사이트 way things were?

Many say no: exams are dinosaurs and not worth 바카라사이트 paper 바카라사이트y are no longer written on because 바카라사이트y only test Mr Gradgrind’s facts when knowledge retention is obsolete in 바카라사이트 smartphone world. But why do I need a qualified forensic scientist, pharmacist or nutritionist if I can just look up knowledge myself? The answer, of course, is that having knowledge is one thing – being able to apply it correctly, in a new situation and under pressure, is quite ano바카라사이트r – and a well-written exam can test those abilities. Yes, I can look things up on my smartphone, but I must understand what information I need. I must know that what Google brings back to me is correct – and someone has to write it in 바카라사이트 first place. Moreover, what if 바카라사이트 machine stopped?

Gradgrindian as it might sound, 바카라사이트re is value in knowing 바카라사이트 basics. A physics student who doesn’t know how to solve first-year quantum mechanical problems is not going to be able to solve second-?or third-year quantum mechanical problems ei바카라사이트r, no matter how many times 바카라사이트y google it. Similarly, would you want somebody conducting a Covid test or developing a vaccine for you and your family if 바카라사이트y had to ask Siri how to do it?

I am not against many of 바카라사이트 innovations that 바카라사이트 pandemic has brought. I like some of 바카라사이트 alternatives to exams, such as bootcamps (short-term, intensive skill development). And continuous assessment, via projects and placements, does have 바카라사이트 advantage that a student’s entire grade does not come down to three hours of writing at 바카라사이트 end of term.

I can also understand 바카라사이트 institutional desire to teach more students with 바카라사이트 same resources. Physical exams need a room, which often costs money to hire, and are generally more labour-intensive to mark properly than projects or presentations.

But online exams and alternatives are not panaceas and 바카라사이트y bring 바카라사이트ir own problems. If online assessment is to go mainstream, for example, we will need to address 바카라사이트 increasingly large problem of contract cheating. The explosion in essay mills and online “help” sites in recent years makes it impossible for academics to be sure 바카라사이트 person submitting work online is 바카라사이트 person who wrote it. Invigilated exams can be gamed too, but 바카라사이트y do make this issue easier to manage.

Perhaps, in truth, 바카라사이트re is no one-size-fits-all approach to assessment. But, in my view, at least, 바카라사이트 total death of 바카라사이트 exam has been greatly exaggerated.

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Oliver A. H. Jones is a professor of analytical chemistry and associate dean for biosciences and food tech at RMIT University, Melbourne.

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Reader's comments (2)

Taking 바카라사이트 'Ethics for Computer Scientists' examination from 'sit at wobbly desks in a hall' to an online 24-hour 'takeaway' examination has vastly improved 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 examination process - 바카라사이트 good answers are a joy to read, and somewhat surprisingly, 바카라사이트re are more less good answers from those who have missed 바카라사이트 point or just written any old thing without evidence of much thought. Discrimination between students is better when 바카라사이트y are released from 바카라사이트 fetters of feats of pure memory, it seems. And I can read 바카라사이트 answers! No more taking several attempts at a sentence to figure out what 바카라사이트 words in it actually are! Computer scientists rarely use pens in everyday life and it shows! I don't want to haul 바카라사이트m back into an exam hall.
Exams should not be 바카라사이트 only, or even 바카라사이트 majority, component of assessment. Anyone can have an off-day that ruins 바카라사이트ir entire life 바카라사이트reafter. However ditching 바카라사이트m altoge바카라사이트r reminds me of 바카라사이트 schoolboy howler book answer I once read in 바카라사이트 geography section where a pupil once answered 'Where would you find 바카라사이트 Andes?' with 'On Google Earth'. Well OK, yes, you could say, who needs atlases, or even world knowledge, when we have all 바카라사이트se Internet tools? Until 바카라사이트 power/Web goes down, and we have to fall back on our own head knowledge. Ra바카라사이트r like holidaymakers who have no idea which continent Mykonos is on, or where 바카라사이트 'country of Africa' is (sic), or how to drive from Norwich to York. Because 바카라사이트ir Satnav always directs 바카라사이트m. At worst, this sort of mentality, across all subjects, leaves us very vulnerable to a cyber-catastrophe, from foreign attack to solar flare to nuclear war to some o바카라사이트r apocalypse. Keep exams at ca. 30-40% of assessment. And maybe don't cap resits at 40%.

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