Is an exam a valid and reliable assessment method in an online course ?

This is a good topic for debate.  As Nick says, there may well be a place for exams in general, if the SLOs warrant it - ie there is a  certain body of knowledge that needs to be learned - vocabulary, process whatever - and the actual student needs to demonstrate that under pressure.  So we have to have a process that is authentic as well - and identify the student taking the exam - another reason they maybe are not the best option at a distance, and even face to face sometimes.

But, increasingly exams in general are less use - the skills students need more now are where to find the information, how to evaluate and synthesise it into something else that they can apply - and information readily available doubles every day, and half of it is wrong!  Only we don't know which half, whether its in the teacher's notes or on the web either!

Another problem I have with exams - and this is personal experience - is that they don't necessarily test a student's knowledge of the subject......sometimes all they test is your knowledge of Greek and Latin derived vocabulary, if the exam questions are written in exam speak.  7th form history exam - I knew all there was to know about Henry 7th - complete bastard, tyrant, etc.  Exam question "How despotic was Henry 7th?"  Hand up, what does despotic mean ?  Can't tell you, it's an exam.  I didn't have enough confidence to write "If despotic means tyrant then this is my answer..." so I chose another question I was less prepared for and didn't get a chance to show what I knew. (David Corson did a thesis on this, if you can't understand the words in the question, how can you answer it?).  Hopefully exam questions these days are a little more fair to students????  But do we need them at all??

Oriel

Hi Jane,

At Laidlaw College we are preparing a course on the ancient Greek language. We are using online tests in a low stakes (that is, small percentage of final grade) way whereby students are tested on their memorisation of key vocabulary and noun/verb paradigms in timed tests that they can take again and again, based ona rich pool of randomsied questions.This works for us in that:

• Memorisation is appropriate for the nature of the course.
• Having timed tests puts the pressure on for students to respond to questions quickly.
• The grade gives an incentive for memorisation, yet is not so high as to permit a student to pass the entire course.

A final exam will also be a part of the assessment, under proctored conditions. The system is this: weeks before the exam, the student is required to find an exam supervisor (we do set conditions on who is suitable). We assess the relationship between the student and their proposed supervisor and authorise the supervisor to, well, supervise the student under exam conditions that we set. This requires a high level of trust, and clear instructions for supervisors. The supervisor returns the stduent script and provides a signature confirming that exam conditions were in place.

The key terms in your own question are 'should' and 'appropriate'. There are times when exams and tests make good sense, others when they do not. High-stakes exams can still be done, even at a distance. Administratively It is a lot of hassle, but the assessment type suits many of our early-level courses where memorised knowledge in the student is a defensible objective.

In your situation I would be inclined to:

1. Challenge the rationale for a final exam.
2. Outline a process for facilitating final exams, which might involve distance-proctoring rather than on-campus conditions, and
3. Depending on the outcomes of 1. and 2., either work to change the assessment or else implement the process.

I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss the value of exams in e-learning. There are ways and means, and it does provide a verifiable outcome where you know that the student has engaged with course concepts.

Hope this helps!