Computer-based Assessment.
Computer-based Assessment
Nasser Abdullah Al Mufarji
Wright State University
EDT 8610-02
Educational Technology
John Needles
13 February, 2015
The Examinations Office is a reference point for all matters related to the examinations. This includes room booking, photocopying of examinations papers, marking the examinations using Scantron for multiple choice questions and also entering the marks manually in the computer. The office is in charge of all the college examinations, so it is very stressful to work here during exams when the workers are required to photocopy more than 30 pages exam papers for around 130 students. In the MD program, we have different courses for different departments. The clinical departments’ examinations include Pre-clerkship, Junior Clerkship, Senior Clerkship and Final MD. Non clinical examinations are the Phase I and Phase II examinations. All these examinations are done on paper.
I am a supervisor and I am very tired of running from office to office collecting results. Some instructors have their offices in the hospital and it is difficult to get hold of them. Results have to be presented in our College Board meeting by the Examinations Director. If results are not collected by then, the meeting has to be postponed and I will be responsible for all the blames. Some instructors bring results with errors and I have to redo the grading with them. It is difficult to track all errors in all assessments. Sometimes, the error is sighted by students when they receive transcripts with wrong grades. It becomes an important issue which involves meeting with all the coordinators involved in entering the grades. It takes time to figure out where the errors occur as there are different people entering the same grades for the same course. The course director brings the results in the spreadsheet with his own formatting. I have to enter the results in a different formatting for presenting in the meeting. After everything has been approved, I have to send the results to Admissions and Registration where they have their own formatting of grades.
The method of assessing on paper does not provide sufficient information on how students are performing. It is very difficult to match the link between course contents and assessments. It requires more people to monitor the paper based assessment. It is easy to make errors when marking the traditional paper based assessment. The more use of paper in assessment, the more trees are cut to make the paper. In the case of a natural disaster, it is impossible to retrieve the original content.
In the rapid technological change, there is a need to modify the method of teaching and assessment in the College of Medicine & Health Sciences, Oman. Students should be engaged in the use of technology to improve their performance by having access to the information before they attend class. They should be updated with any change in their schedule by using the technology while they are offsite. Digital assessment is better than the traditional assessment because students can be assessed in different ways: by using audio and video recording, screen casting, web cams and even virtual classroom for international students or any of the students who could not make it to the class.
According to the research conducted by CISCO, Intel & Microsoft (2009), schools need to modify their teaching as well as assessment methods in order to meet the 21st century needs. Medical students have to be engaged in the use of technology to enhance their deep understanding and use the knowledge to face real life challenges. (CISCP et al., 2009 p.1). Computer based assessments can be done on a PC by the use of different webpages over the internet (Taylor 2005). In my institution, internet connection as well as the wireless connection is already available. There are courses conducted online on Moodle but it is an option. (http://moodle.squ.edu.om/)
In the article a Mini Revolution creating the digitalized database in the medical school at Lynn University in Florida started using iPad mini for all their courses. The devices changed the way Lynn’s faculty deliver their course materials. Students can collaborate with their instructor by sharing the iPad screen that is projected for all students to see. The instructor is no longer tied up with the screen as she can move freely with the iPad while explaining to the students. Students are now more involved during the session by participating. The instructor can now flip the classroom by making students watch videos at home and come to class prepared. Students are no longer carrying the heavy text books to college. This also saves money for purchasing books. Everything is available in their iPads provided by the college. The results of fall 2013, provided clear evidence that Lynn University’s results improved dramatically when students started using the iPads compared to the results when they were using the traditional method (Lynn, 2013).
With the information I have learned by speaking with BSOM employees working in different departments, the process of going paperless takes sometimes to achieve. The most important thing is to start slowly and continue to develop. Changes will always take place as the process continues. Though for any software used might not be the best solution, improvements are made once the first step is accomplished. BSOM started administrating MCQ on Scantron sheets. This is the current step we are in my university. Once the sheets are marked, we have to send to the other office for making statistical analysis. This takes time to get the final report because each process is done by a different staff member. With the use of technology, with a click of a button you get all the information you need including MCQ results, ratings, feedback and statistical analysis.
The next step taken by BSOM was to use the WebCT as the learning management for assessment. The quiz function served as the main function for their assessment. This was done in computer labs consisting of 30 stations. The challenge was accommodating all students at the same time. This was not possible and as a result, the assessment had to be conducted in two sessions. From the implementation of Flight which is still in its final phase at BSOM, a new idea of using IPad was introduced. As many institutions now look for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), BSOM’s next step will be to implement this idea. It is easier to follow the path of BSOM because all the required networking and staffing are already in place. There are 3 computer labs in the College of Medicine, Oman each having 60 PCs. The learning management system used for assessment is either Moodle or WebCT. The other is a collection of questions known as the Database for Enhanced Assessment and Learning (IDEAL). This is where all the questions are stored. The main issue with IDEAL question banks is that only one administrator has access to the software. If any instructor has an exam, he should go to the IDEAL office and print the questions from there. It is done manually by selecting questions which are then copied to a Word document. The challenge remains on how to link the IDEAL database with either the WebCT or Moodle to make it easier for course directors to access the questions. This step is the first step to be taken in order to go paperless. (http://www.squ.edu.om/medicalinformatics/tabid/6760/language/en-US/Default.aspx)
In Examinations Office, there are two heavy duty photocopying machines. The best way to go paperless is to install software that can scan documents. This will be an important step to get rid of all the bulk files stored in this office. Transcripts and feedback to be scanned and stored electronically. Once this step is achieved, then the software is linked to the WebCT and the IDEAL bank. This will help the access of information. It might not be that easy but once the process is started, things will get better and better. Even with the latest technology, there is a time we might need to upgrade or change things around. It is important to understand the backup system at the university in order to prevent loss of students’ data. What information to be accessed by which person is another issue to be looked at. It is not practical to allow full access to every course director. There should be limitation to certain information which needed by that staff.
In conclusion, there are challenges to be faced when we try to digitize assessment in the medical school. Staff members that are used to the old method of using paper and pen will be difficult to convince. If the number of students is increased, accommodating them to the computer labs might be another challenge. Any failure to the network can create an unpleasant environment for the students who are already tensed during the assessment. Mapping the IDEAL bank questions to WebCT might not work. The university might require the leasing of software from third party.
In contrast to the challenges, computer based assessments reduce a lot of time in accessing the results. The Admissions and Registrations are able to access all results without having us typing the results and sending to them. There is less chance of errors in marking the test and disseminating the results. The computer can randomize the questions. This is the best option for preventing cheating as each student will have a different version of the same examination. Instant feedback is received by students. The tracking of students is made easy with computers. There will be no need to spend money buying text books for students. This saves money as well as time since text books are imported from abroad. All information will be available for the students at anytime, anywhere whenever needed. There are more benefits in using computer based assessments compared to traditional pen and paper assessments.
Reference
www.squ.edu.om
http://www.squ.edu.om/medicalinformatics/tabid/6731/language/en-US/Default.aspx
http://www.squ.edu.om/cet/tabid/373/language/en-US/Default.aspx
http://www.lynn.edu/about-lynn/news-and-events/news/media/2013/11/a-mini-revolution.pdf
http://www.squ.edu.om/medicalinformatics/tabid/6760/language/en-US/Default.aspx
NEWHOUSE C. COMPUTER-BASED EXAMS IN SCHOOLS: FREEDOM FROM THE LIMITATIONS OF PAPER? Research & Practice In Technology Enhanced Learning [serial online]. November 2013; 8(3):431-447. Available from: Education Research.