Given the current circumstances and due to the Corona pandemic, do you agree with me that online education can be served at the current stage, but on the condition that exams are conducted for students in classrooms, taking into account health measures considerations
Dear coleague Haees Al-Jowary. The electronic platform we use at Universidade do Minho (Portugal) to manage elerning activities (that is Blackboard Learn) have special protocols for conducting exams. The protocols used give special assurance by sound and image about the legitimacy and authenticity of the exam situation. Anyway I perfectly agree with you that, if possible and when possible (considering the hygienic conditions), it is preferable to manage school exams in the classroom. If the room is not crowded, everyone using face mask, people have disinfectant to wash hands before and after, and there is air circulating, I would say it is fine. If the work is done in the student's laptop, and delivered to the students without a material support (paper) and then delivered by the students to the teacher by email, even better.
Prof Haees Al- Jowary
When it comes to tests, I am sure we can make do with the learning management systems in our schools. With respect to exams, an alternative could be to conduct TAKE HOME EXAMS. Some schools in Ghana did that last semester and it worked well. That might also mean more effort from the lecturers since the questions have to more detailed. Countries that are experiencing a second wave may try that option. Besides that, strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols will also help conduct face to face exams
I agree with you that the integrity of exams can be best assured in a face-to-exàm in the classroom or in any agreed upon venue. Provided that health protocols should still be followed, i.e. disinfecting the venue before usage, social distancing, wearing mask, using sanitizing solutions like alcohol.
However, if the situation will not allow face-to- face exams , some other measures may be implemented: 1) using questions that would test higher order thinking skills, 2) performance tests, 3) power test type that is under tme pressure, 4) oral exams, 5) using several sets of equivalent test in a class where no two students would answer the same questions though they would be tested on the same competrncies, 6) uploading test items in a Learning Management System that immediately checks an answer, etc.
The world of education has changed. And for all the trials and challenges of managing education during a pandemic, we have also learned a few things that can make our teaching and learning experiences even better in the future. An alternative could be to use learning management systems and platforms in order to conduct exams.
In e-learning, most exams and coursework are totally on-line. That is why many professors are using more essay style questions.
I have been teaching on-ground, online, and blended courses for at least ten years at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. In my experience, mastery of online learning is greatest at the higher levels, and diminishes as the course level declines. Online learning is more challenging and less accepted by traditional undergrad students. These are the students who are more likely to want/need T/F or multiple choice exams and, yes, they can be created within the LMS system. In terms of graduate students, I find them to be insulted by T/F or multiple choice exams and agree with the written essay types of assessments mentioned above. If questions are well developed and rubrics are available for student guidance, then what is left to assess is quality of thinking and use of concepts being taught. In my experience, these are much better assessments and lend themselves to more effective feedback. Online learning for graduate students at this level is just as worthwhile as traditional graduate learning so long as professors are doing their jobs diligently. If a professor doesn't believe in online learning, or testing, then they are not likely to do it well.
Of course, it will be better if you conduct classes online, and exams "face to face" in the classroom. At the same time, it should be taken into account that until today, students studied online (at home). This means that if the exam results are negative, then there are misunderstandings..... People are different!!!!
Yes I agree that with the persistanat e learning the exam should be in the class room
why are educators so afraid of losing "control" of everything including evaluations?! If you have feasible objectives for online learning and you have have ways to evaluate that are not Old School and all weird about "cheating", it is possible. Isn't "cheating" what we do always? We mix, and re-mix, sample audiovisuals, and written ideas, or what we steal from popular culture. How about finding ways to evaluate that support seeking answers collaboratively or from the media? For example, if your fear of losing control is related to a suspicion that students buy essays, get them writing installments toward their final essay (if you still logocentric) and post in each class online. You are afraid of the 3 or 4 hours segment. There is one thing to do toward evaluation that mixes what they are seeing or not, what they might be reading and lifting or not.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345737698_Survey_on_general_awareness_mental_state_and_academic_difficulties_among_students_due_to_COVID-19_outbreak_in_the_western_regions_of_Uganda
our society has changed with the outbreak of the covid-19. If learning is made virtual, examinations can also be carried over the internet. The issue here would have do with kind of questions being asked.
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