Community Conversations: Library Resources

This article reports on results from a nursing class as well as previous literature surrounding the topic of whether or not educators should answer student questions during an examination period. It concludes that it should be made clear to students early in the class that questions will not be answered during the time that the exam is being administered, but a place to submit comments will be included in the exam materials.

The case-study detailed in this paper investigated how successfully student learning goals could be met and assessed through courses administered solely online. The researchers found that there was a significant difference between the students’ demonstration of understanding via discussion forums and on the final exam. The researchers support the administering of a final exam to online students, as test preparation requires students to revisit and reflect on the class material.

This paper discusses the relationship between online test administration and achieved student outcomes. Uniquely, this study had a very large data set, pulling information from 100 online courses and more than 1800 students. The authors conclude that while it is necessary to administer the exam using software that prevents students from accessing other online resources during the exam, the online exam is a viable alternative to “traditional” in-person proctored exams.

This article explores different methods for detecting cheating in an online exam environment. The last section, “Interventions for Mitigating Cheating” offers several practical recommendations for minimizing student cheating in an online environment, including what percentage of the exam should be changed on a yearly basis, and including a warning about the penalties for cheating on the first page of the exam.

This article discusses the three factors that contribute to academic dishonesty: incentive, opportunity, and rationalization to cheat. The authors make numerous suggestions for mitigating this behavior in an online exam environment, such as: offering multiple versions of the exam, placing a time-limit on the exam, and withholding answers until every student has taken the exam.

This research paper draws from several studies conducted in a number of different fields which examined the success rate on paper vs. online exams, and also draws from a study conducted by the authors. Ultimately they conclude that student performance on a multiple-choice exam was not affected by mode of implementation (computer or paper).

This article offers six principled design frameworks for developing online assessment strategies. It discusses the importance of understanding student technology limitations, aligning course objectives with assessment, adjusting course material and assessment with the particular discipline, frequent feedback, underlining real-world applications of course material, and ensuring that students are made aware of specific assessment strategies.

This article delves into a research study which focused on three main topics surrounding online education: assessment strategies that students find enjoyable, assessment strategies that students find meaningful, and assessment strategies students believe are likely to create practical knowledge. Ultimately this article underlines the need for educators to shift their focus away from the way “traditional” face-to-face classes are conducted and work to create assessments that will engage students in the online environment. It offers an interesting perspective that all learning activities conducted in the online environment are assessments of one kind or another.

This paper delves into student satisfaction with computer-based assessment (CBA). The authors’ findings indicate that the students surveyed were highly accepting of CBA as a learning assessment strategy, but students were less positive about replacing a pen-and-paper final exam with an online one. Surprisingly, student anxiety with the exam technology as a large contributor to the low ratings for online exam satisfaction, however, the authors do note that students are using computer technology more and more in their daily lives and comfort level is increasing.

This article explores one option for administering e-exams to student which involves locking their computers into a dedicated electronic environment.

This research paper delves deeply into how the anticipated type of assessment affects students’ study strategies during an online course, and how learning strategies affect student achievement levels on online assessments. Ultimately the study found that announcing a multiple-choice test stimulated a surface learning strategy in students, while announcing an essay test stimulated a deeper learning strategy in students.

The authors of this article discuss the viability and successes of using a webcam-based proctoring tool during online exams to maintain exam integrity. Their experiment found that there was no statistically significant difference in student success between proctored and non-proctored groups of students, but a post-exam survey of students indicated that the proctored students felt they had less opportunity to engage in academic misconduct than those who were not proctored.