The Use of Computer-Assisted Assessment in Engineering: Some Results from the CAA National Survey Conducted in 1999

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Bull ◽  
Carol Collins

This paper presents a snapshot of the findings from the National Survey (1999) into CAA activity in higher education and gives an overview of the usage of CAA in the engineering sector. It offers an insight into the ways in which technology and objective tests can be used to assess a range of learning outcomes.

10.28945/4491 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 001-029
Author(s):  
Rosalina Babo ◽  
Lurdes V. Babo ◽  
Jarkko T Suhonen ◽  
Markku Tukiainen

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study is to understand student’s opinions and perceptions about e-assessment when the assessment process was changed from the traditional computer assisted method to a multiple-choice Moodle based method. Background: In order to implement continuous assessment to a large number of students, several shifts are necessary, which implies as many different tests as the number of shifts required. Consequently, it is difficult to ensure homogeneity through the different tests and a huge amount of grading time is needed. These problems related to the traditional assessment based on computer assisted tests, lead to a re-design of the assessment resulting in the use of multiple-choice Moodle tests. Methodology: A longitudinal, concurrent, mixed method study was implemented over a five-year period. A survey was developed and carried out by 815 undergraduate students who experienced the electronic multiple-choice questions (eMCQ) assessment in the courses of the IS department. Qualitative analyses included open-ended survey responses and interviews with repeating students in the first year. Contribution: This study provides a reflection tool on how to incorporate frequent moments of assessment in courses with a high number of students without overloading teachers with a huge workload. The research analysed the efficiency of assessing non-theoretical topics using eMCQ, while ensuring the homogeneity of assessment tests, which needs to be complemented with other assessment methods in order to assure that students develop and acquire the expected skills and competencies. Findings: The students involved in the study appreciate the online multiple-choice quiz assessment method and perceive it as fair but have a contradictory opinion regarding the preference of the assessment method, throughout the years. These changes in perception may be related to the improvement of the question bank and categorisation of questions according to difficulty level, which lead to the nullification of the ‘luck factor’. Other major findings are that although the online multiple-choice quizzes are used with success in the assessment of theoretical topics, the same is not in evidence regarding practical topics. Therefore, this assessment needs to be complemented with other methods in order to achieve the expected learning outcomes. Recommendations for Practitioners: In order to be able to evaluate the same expected learning outcomes in practical topics, particularly in technology and information systems subjects, the evaluator should complement the online multiple-choice quiz assessment with other approaches, such as a PBL method, homework assignments, and/or other tasks performed during the semester. Recommendation for Researchers: This study explores e-assessment with online multiple-choice quizzes in higher education. It provides a survey that can be applied in other institutions that are also using online multiple-choice quizzes to assess non-theorical topics. In order to better understand the students’ opinions on the development of skills and competencies with online multiple-choice quizzes and on the other hand with classical computer assisted assessment, it would be necessary to add questions concerning these aspects. It would then be interesting to compare the findings of this study with the results from other institutions. Impact on Society: The increasing number of students in higher education has led to a raised use of e-assessment activities, since it can provide a fast and efficient manner to assess a high number of students. Therefore, this research provides meaningful insight of the stakeholders’ perceptions of online multiple-choice quizzes about practical topics. Future Research: An interesting study, in the future, would be to obtain the opinions of a particular set of students on two tests, one of the tests using online multiple-choice quizzes and the other through a classical computer assisted assessment method. A natural extension of the present study is a comparative analysis regarding the grades obtained by students who performed one or another type of assessment (online multiple-choice quizzes vs. classical computer assisted assessment).


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 543-543
Author(s):  
Joann Montepare

Abstract Age-friendly University (AFU) campuses are reshaping how we think about teaching and learning in higher education. In particular, intergenerational classrooms are on the rise as shifting age demographics call for institutions to create new opportunities for older learners and encourage intergenerational exchange. Age diverse classrooms have distinctive needs and dynamics that instructors, and students, will need to learn how to navigate. This presentation will describe outcomes of one AFU institution’s attempt to identify the challenges and triumphs of intergenerational classrooms through facilitated instructor and student reflections in different classrooms over the course of several semesters. Recommendations will be offered for enhancing intergenerational exchange in classrooms across disciplines, as well as evaluating attitudes, logistics, and learning outcomes. Part of a symposium sponsored by Intergenerational Learning, Research, and Community Engagement Interest Group.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-101
Author(s):  
Mark Sandle ◽  
Gary Taylor ◽  
Penny Welch

Geoff Timmins, Keith Vernon and Christine Kinealy (2005) Teaching and Learning HistoryReview by Mark SandleLorraine McIlrath and Iain Mac Labhrainn (eds) (2007) Higher Education and Civic Engagement: International PerspectivesReview by Gary TaylorJoanna Bull and Colleen McKenna (2004) Blueprint for Computer-Assisted AssessmentReview by Penny WelchPeter Redman (2006) Good Essay WritingReview by Penny Welch


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Noy ◽  
Teresa Capetola ◽  
Rebecca Patrick

Purpose Education for Sustainability in Higher Education (ESHE) sits within and across disciplinary settings that share the need for a framework that provides a basis for pedagogy, assessment and learning outcomes (Kalsoom, 2019). ESHE strives to create transformative learning spaces that help students gain the knowledge and skills they need to understand and contribute to shaping a world based on communities living within the limits of earth’s resources. This paper aims to offer a novel solution to the challenge of teaching students from different disciplines struggling with the complexity of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the development of an interdisciplinary subject designed for undergraduate students from four faculties. It presents a case study of pedagogy that moves away from three pillars/concentric circles approaches towards practices based in systems thinking and interactive transformative learning. It describes the iterative process of developing and implementing an infographic: the “Sustainability Wheel of Fortune” (Wheel), to support constructive alignment of content, assessment tasks and learning outcomes. Findings The Wheel provides a holistic, interconnected and dynamic focus for framing content and teaching. The pedagogy aligns with sustainability competencies, builds in flexibility in response to changing times and student experiences and provides teachers and students with a common framework for interrogating the possibilities for sustainable futures. Originality/value The Wheel is a novel learning tool for contemporary sustainability education. It captures key elements of approaches to and concepts about sustainability, visually reinforces the idea of a holistic interconnected approach and provides a framework that supports the constructive pedagogy of an interdisciplinary sustainability subject.


2021 ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
Yu.N. Pak ◽  
◽  
Zh.S. Nuguzhinov ◽  
D.Yu. Pak

Worked out is the analyzes of development of the Kazakhstan system of standardization of higher education on the example of several generations of state educational standards. Their features are examined in structural terms, as well as in terms of the requirements for the compulsory minimum of the educational content, the level of preparedness of graduates and learning outcomes. The dynamics of transformations in the context of expansion of universities academic freedoms, the ratio of compulsory and university components of educational programs is shown. The role of educational and methodological associations of universities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the development of the regulatory and legal support of the educational process is emphasized. The relevance of introducing the competence-based approach in higher education on the basis of combining educational and professional standards is noted. It is shown that inconsistent and hasty reforms, uncompetitive level of teachers’ remuneration, expanding bureaucratization, underdeveloped quality assurance culture do not contribute to the successful modernization of higher education.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document