In this post, “how to engage your students with computer-based test”, we will explain the meaning of Computer Based Test or Online Exam, the benefits and how schools can engage their pupils on Computer Based Test or Online Exam to facilitate learning.
What is Computer Based Testing/ Online Exam?
Computer base testing is an online assessment or examination system that is primarily delivered online instead of in-person instruction. It’s a form of Test or examination that is delivered over the web using a web-based software. It is a great way to assess students performance in an engaging way that’s easy to comprehend.
While this type of assessment has been around for a while, it’s greatly improved over the last few years. Programmed instruction has some of the basic traits that define computer-based testing. These includes delivering chunks of questions in a step-by-step manner, allowing students to learn at their own pace, setting options before moving on to the next question and providing an instant result for learner’s feedback on their overall progress and responses.
HOW TO ENGAGE STUDENTS WITH COMPUTER BASED TEST.
As you think about giving exams online, it is very important that you communicate with your students about behavior that is acceptable during the exam. Are they allowed to collaborate? To use their notes or text? To use other websites? Some of the tools described below help make these expectations clear and help prevent cheating, but most importantly your communication with students is very necessary on what is allowed. Here are some few ways on how to engage students with computer base test/exam.
- Registration of candidates.
- Storing of candidate details.
- Generation of hall tickets with exam room details.
- Scheduling the test time.
- Verification of candidate details in the exam room.
- Setting up and maintaining the fair examination.
- Ensure that questions are not confusing for students who will not be able to ask for clarification as easily as they could in a face-to-face exam. For example, ask a colleague or TA to review questions before using them on an online exam.
- Use tools within Brightspace or TopHat to prevent use of other websites on the device being used to take websites on the device being used to take the exam. Brightspace has a Lockdown Browser that prevents students from accessing other websites on the device they are using to take the exam. In addition, it can be set to allow students access to specific websites that you approve. TopHat’s tool works somewhat differently. It is called “Proctoring,” and in essence, it shuts the students out of the exam if they leave the exam or take a screenshot.
- Use isomorphic questions and randomization to give each student a different (but equivalent) exam. Isomorphic questions are those that are identical except for a small change. If you give an exam in a crowded lecture hall, you may use several versions of the exam. You may change the order of the questions. These options are available for exams given through Brightspace and TopHat, and result in each student having a slightly different but equivalent exam, reducing the probability of unwanted student-student collaboration.
- Setting up feedback from the candidate.
Benefits of Computer Based Test/ Online Exam
The benefits of online assessment are welcomed by both the exam candidates themselves, and for the organization or school providing the assessment. The types of benefits gained will depend on the assessment software used, but one overriding positive outcome is that organizations greatly reduce the administrative burden of organizing and running exams.
- Reduced Administrative Burden: Organizations greatly reduce the administrative burden of organizing and running exams when it moves online. Printing and circulating exams on paper and organizing shipments of completed scripts to markers is a time-consuming and costly process.
- Quicker to Mark and Issue Results: It is much quicker to mark online and candidates welcome receiving results quickly. With auto-scorable questions, results are available immediately if wished.
- Collaborative Question Authoring: Working online makes it easier for the examining body to manage all the tasks involved in creating exams. For example, authoring questions can be done collaboratively, with clear workflows for review and approval of questions before they are added to the question bank.
- It’s More Environmentally Friendly and Scalable with Worldwide Reach: It’s more environmentally friendly with less paper, printing and transport used overall, with online assessment, examining bodies can offer exams to candidates located over greater geographical areas, as they are not restricted to offering exams in physical test centers.
- Increased Security: Another benefit of online assessment is greater security, as all exam papers, candidate details, marks and results are digitally stored. In addition, only the people who should be able access exam information can be granted the appropriate system access. It is much harder to control access, storage and results management with paper-based exams.
- Assessment Reporting OR Auto-Graded Reports.: Online assessment facilitates quick and clear reports on candidate results and progress. This makes it easier to give useful feedback to candidates on how they are doing, areas where they are strong and what areas of learning require attention.
- Cost Effectiveness: Online assessment is more cost effective, due the vast reduction in administrative time managing the whole exam creation, delivery and marking processes. There are significant cost reductions when compared with running face-to-face exams. In-person exams can be very expensive as there are substantial fees associated with factors such as hiring a test hall, supplying or hiring invigilators, securely couriering exam papers and answer sheets, printing exam papers, scanning and correcting solutions, securely storing and disposing of exam papers and scripts, staff overheads to manage the process and logistics, and dealing with re-sits.