Hi Folks:
We've been running a summative MCQ on BB twice a year for the past 3-4 years without any major glitches (so far!). We don't have QMP.
Our 30 or so students each semester have been "distance" learners, so all assessment is done off campus - mainly from students' homes or workplaces. This hasn't been particularly problematic, though there has been an occasional hiccup - usually at the student end and more often than not this is because the student has accidentally jumped to the final question & pressed "Submit".
A couple of tips:
a) Create fairly large question pools and randomise question selection - this significantly reduces the chances of students getting the same questions.
b) Write your MCQs in such a way that referring to a textbook is not particularly helpful, pitch your questions at understanding rather than definitions - this reduces the risk of "cheating" (unless you have an "open book exam").
c) Have questions appear on screen individually, but allow backtracking prior to final submission.
d) Provide only the score as feedback - not the correct answers!
e) Make the exam available (with only one attempt allowed) over 24 hours to accommodate shift workers.
f) Produce a Camtasia video tutorial showing how to complete the paper. Make this available early in the course.
g) Post "example" questions in same format as the real exam & encourage students to try them out from wherever they'll be taking the actual exam.
h) Have a hotline available (help desk or Instructor) for queries, making sure the hotline person can "reset" the individual's paper if needs be.
i) Make sure you let your BB Admin team know that you're setting an online exam - just in case they have "maintenance" planned (!!!)
j) As a security check, ask the student to enter her/his matriculation number or a password you've sent to her/his University email account. (This isn't foolproof of course!)
k) Keep an eye on relative pass rates / exam scores - compare onliners' with onsite students' marks. If onliners' are scoring significantly higher or lower then review your protocols......
Best wishes
Terry Corcoran
Senior Lecturer
(ELearning Co-ordinator)
School of Nursing, Midwifery & Community Health
Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow G4 0BA
"This email is confidential, may be legally privileged, and is for the intended recipient only. Access, disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance on any of it by anyone outside the intended recipient organisation is prohibited and may be a criminal offence. Please delete if obtained in error and email confirmation to the sender."
-----Original Message-----
From: Blackboard/Courseinfo userslist [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tony Churchill
Sent: 09 February 2007 13:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Good experiences with online assessment
I have to agree with Harry. Our experiences of using Blackboard for
examinations have been overwhelmingly positive over the past three years.
That's largely been due to my colleague Dr Jie Shen who has worked with
academics to create protocols that make it possible to run exams over
several computer rooms at the same time.
By the way, has anyone actually managed to make use of the Quiz bowl
question yet? The other new questions were very welcome - but that one...
Tony Churchill | Educational Developer (e-Learning)
Staff Development Centre | 9th Floor Charles Wilson Building | University
of Leicester | University Road | Leicester | LE1 7RH | UK
T: +44 (0)116 223 1876 | F: +44 (0)116 2231815 | M: +44 (0)7748 677724
Email has been scanned for viruses by Altman Technologies' email management service - www.altman.co.uk/emailsystems
|