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Source publication
The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of students with performance-based, in-class and learner-centered, online assessment and the effects of these formats on comprehensive exam scores in an educational psychology course required of participants in a teacher education program. In our quantitative analysis, we investigated the effe...
Citations
... In this review, it was repeatedly stressed that the mere application of technology in assessment did not guarantee efficiency and improvement (Crisp, 2010;Greenberg et al., 2008;Rodríguez-Gómez & Ibarra-Sáiz, 2016). The studies seemed to distinguish between the knowledge related to the what and how of assessment and the knowledge of assessment through technological affordances (e.g., Luckin et al., 2017;Pu & Xu, 2021;Rezai et al., 2021;Schmidt & DeSchryver, 2022). ...
Digital assessment (DA) is a growing scope of practice whose necessary competencies for teachers have been collectively unspecified. Analyzing 63 publications, this review explored the themes in the literature related to teachers' assessment literacy in digital environments (TALiDE). By synthesizing the implications of these studies, multiple competencies and components were retrieved that included several elements of knowledge base, cognition, and contextual factors in association with current issues in DA. The review contributes to an integrative view of what affects teachers enacting DA by presenting a conceptual model of TALiDE and can be beneficial to the stakeholders involved in distance education.
... Dental education is confronting new challenges worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and most lectures have been switched from offline to online learning platforms to maintain social distancing [27,28]. The context of the COVID-19 pandemic gives rise to the question of assessment methods in education in the healthcare profession [29]. In the survey, the students indicated that taking an OBE in a comfortable situation made them feel relieved and less stressed, as well as guaranteeing their individual safety from COVID-19. ...
... In addition, the 2019 traditional assessment used question types such as true or false, multiple-choice, and short-answer questions that are associated with rote learning, but the 2021 OB questions were designed to assess the students' problem-solving skills. Finally, the validity of the OB assessment methods used in this study need to be tested by proving whether they really worked as authentic, real-life-like assessments to improve students' higher-order thinking [29]. In follow-up assessment studies, the roles and effects of invigilation in the online exams should be carefully monitored, and the extent to which OBEs allow students to access resources, including self-made materials, needs to be examined in terms of exam types. ...
Background
While closed-book examinations (CBEs) have traditionally been implemented in dental education, open-book examinations (OBEs) are being introduced for the purpose of acquiring higher levels of knowledge and promoting long-term memory. This study examines whether it is effective to use a blended assessment of CBEs and OBEs for dental students to reduce test anxiety and enhance academic performance.
Methods
Using a quasi-experimental research method, a blended assessment that combined CBEs in class and OBEs online was designed for a dental course. In 2020, when the pandemic was at its peak, student assessment was ineffective, and the 2020 cohort was omitted for our study; instead, two cohorts of predoctoral dental students (N = 178) enrolled in Restorative Dentistry in the spring semesters of 2019 and 2021 were included in the study. These students were informed about the experimental design, and they provided written consent for data collection, thereby voluntarily participating in the survey. Their self-perceived responses to open-ended survey questions on assessment methods were qualitatively analyzed.
Results
There was no significant difference in test anxiety between the CBEs and OBEs at the p-values of 0.001 in all items. Traditional and blended assessment showed a similar trend of lower scores in midterm exams compared to higher scores in final exams, thus discriminating against students’ performances. In particular, a low-achieving group was better predicted by a blended assessment. An analysis of the students’ self-perceived responses produced highly topical themes, including exam burden, learning effects, and fairness issues.
Conclusions
This study confirmed the feasibility of blended assessment that can be implemented in online and in-person educational environments. Moreover, it can be used as the groundwork to develop new models of assessment in dental education.
... In addition, examinations for students were online and uninvigilated, and this may also have resulted in a reduction of stress for students leading up to examinations in direct contrast to previously reported increase in pre-examination stress in studies conducted before COVID19 [12,23]. Literature indicates that some students find online examinations less stressful [24,25]. Lastly, the closure of the university campus impacted our rate of recruitment, and we were not able to reach our intended sample size of 815. ...
Background
Studies suggest that bioactive compounds such as probiotics may positively influence psychological health. This study aimed to determine whether supplementation with the probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 reduced stress and improve psychological wellbeing in university students sitting examinations.
Methods
In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 483 undergraduate students received either the probiotic L. rhamnosus HN001, or placebo, daily during a university semester. Students completed measures of stress, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing at baseline and post-intervention before examinations. Mann Whitney U tests compared the change in psychological outcomes between groups.
Results
Of the 483 students, 391 (81.0%) completed the post-intervention questions. There was no significant difference between the probiotic and placebo supplemented groups in psychological health outcomes. The COVID19 pandemic restrictions may have influenced the typical trajectory of stress leading up to examinations.
Conclusion
We found no evidence of significant benefit of probiotics on the psychological health of university students. These findings highlight the challenges of conducting probiotic trials in human populations where the potential for contextual factors such as COVID19 response, and participant adherence to the intervention may influence results.
... A Finnish study found that students spent equivalent time preparing for online and inperson exams but reported taking longer to complete online examinations (Myyry & Joutsenvirta, 2015). While studies show students feel less anxious and stressed about online examinations (Greenberg et al., 2009;Schmidt et al., 2009), other studies indicate that not all students experience online assessment as less stressful. Yang and Taylor (2013) found that high performance avoidance increased anxiety about online examinations indicating that students do not experience online examinations in the same way (Yang & Taylor, 2013). ...
... In addition, the move to online examinations may have reduced stress. Previous studies have reported that, in general, students experience open-book, uninvigilated examinations as less stressful (Greenberg et al., 2009;Schmidt et al., 2009). ...
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the complete closure of many university campuses and a rapid shift to complete online delivery of university teaching. Understanding the student experience of online learning under these conditions is important to inform improvements and adaptations to continued online delivery of university services. The aim of this study was to examine students’ experience of online learning, studying, and assessment during the pandemic and investigate the association between these perceptions and measures of psychological health. A cohort of 391 undergraduate students completed measures of stress, anxiety and psychological wellbeing at the beginning and end of a semester during which a shift to complete remote delivery of university teaching occurred due to COVID-19 restrictions. Students also rated how stressful or difficult they found five aspects of online learning, study and assessment which was used to calculate a composite score. T-tests were used to compare stress, anxiety and psychological wellbeing scores from the beginning and end of the semester. Regression models were used to examine the relationship between online learning composite score and psychological health measures. Unexpectedly, stress and psychological wellbeing improved over the semester during which the university campus closed, and all teaching and assessments were online. Students with higher stress scores and lower psychological wellbeing scores at the beginning of the semester were more likely to experience difficulty and stress with online teaching.
... The study investigated on how the COVID-19 crisis affected the social networks, and how changes in students' social networks and daily lives affected the students' mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety, loneliness, and stress) in Switzerland [1]. Another research explored the experience of students with performance-based, in-class and learner-centered, online assessment and the effects of these formats on comprehensive exam scores in an educational psychology [31]. Another study identified the highimpact practice principles of online higher education and provided a case study for colleagues at universities to consider conducting online education in similar circumstances [18]. ...
The developments in the communication and Internet technologies have had a major impact on education. The traditional face-to-face education has changed substantially with the advancement of technology. With the start and ongoing Covid pandemic, face-to-face education has been replaced with online education. In this paper, an empirical study was undertaken to examine the change of students' preferences for online education versus traditional education and the supporting learning technologies such as Learning Management System (LMS) between the two periods: transition term (TT) and ongoing Covid pandemic (DC). Results showed that there is a difference in the students' preferences when compared with gender and number of online courses taken but there are not statistically significant. Research findings support the fact that students were not ready for a fully online education even though they had experience with online learning. The grade distribution of students decreased from TT to DC due to self study and online assesments with proctoring. Students agreed that traditional courses increased their learning and the learning technologies, such as LCM, online platforms and VTC help them learn the materials online in both TT and DC. For online learning, they prefer synchronous courses to asynchronous courses.
... Online examinations facilitate the opportunity to receive feedback [69], which might raise students' self-efficacy beliefs and through them their academic performance. Studies examining students' experiences in class and online examinations with MCQ show that online settings, where the students received immediate feedback, reduced stress and allowed them to focus on learning [70]. Provision of feedback on assessment was considered a valuable form of support for learning. ...
Background: Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation many factors around us have changed. Preliminary surveys and reports have indicated this unprecedented situation is putting high academic demands and extraordinary pressure on the students. The newly introduced open book pattern of online examination which was conducted very recently definitely was a different experience for all the students as well as teachers and it also had its own pros and cons. Given the recency of this pandemic situation and pervasive use of traditional methods of closed book examination, scientific studies are lacking in this context. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional survey conducted in physiotherapy students using an online questionnaire. Through this qualitative analysis we assessed the overall impact of online examination with an aim to determine the prevalence of stress and its determinants. In addition, students' experience with respect to different phases of online examination (preparing, responding and learning) was investigated. Results & Conclusion: The prevalence of academic stress was very high (94.4%) among undergraduate physiotherapy students (n=642) in the context of online exams conducted in the pandemic crisis situation. This alarmingly high proportion of students experiencing stress warrants urgent and special attention with effective interventions. While examination related factors are identified as major stressors, many psychosocial factors are also found to exert a considerable influence on exam experience and are implicated to affect the mental health and academics of the students. Open book exam was advantageous to the students in terms of reducing stress while mixed results were found in terms of learning and study skills.
... However, results from earlier studies are mixed. Some studies have reported cheating (Fask et al., 2015;Harmon & Lambrinos, 2008;King et al., 2009) while others registered no cheating (Greenberg et al., 2009;Hollister & Berenson, 2009;Peng, 2007;Werhner, 2010). Shen, Chung, Challis, and Cheung (2007) found no significant performance difference between the traditional classes and online classes, although the traditional class performed slightly better than the online class. ...
Selecting the right methodology to use for detecting cheating in online exams requires considerable time and effort due to a wide variety of scholarly publications on academic dishonesty in online education. This article offers a cheating detection framework that can serve as a guideline for conducting cheating studies. The necessary theories and related statistical models are arranged into three phases/sections within the framework to allow cheating studies to be completed in a sufficiently quick and precise manner. This cheating detection framework includes commonly used models in each phase and addresses the collection and analysis of the needed data. The model's level of complexity ascends progressively from a graphical representation of data and descriptive statistical models to more advanced inferential statistics, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and the optional comparison method and the Goldfeld-Quandt Test for heteroscedasticity. An instructor receiving positive results on the possibility of cheating in Phases 1 or 2 can avoid using more advanced models in Phase 3. Tests conducted on sample courses showed that models in Phases 1 and 2 of the proposed framework provided results effectively for over 70% of the test groups, saving users further time and effort. High-tech systems and low-cost recommendations that can mitigate cheating are discussed. This framework will be beneficial in guiding instructors who are converting from the traditionally proctored in-class exam to a take-home or online exam without authentication or proctoring. In addition, it can serve as a powerful deterrent that will alleviate the concerns that an institution's stakeholders might have about the reliability of their programs.
... Khare and Lam (2008) suggest in their review that authentic assessments are suitable in particular to take online, although the MCQ procedure is widely used in online settings, maybe because it is convenient and quick and makes automatic testing possible (Llamas-Nistal et al., 2013). However, utilizing the MCQ method, no difference in learning outcomes between in-class and online examinations has been found (Greenberg et al., 2009). Online examinations tend to reduce text anxiety for those suffering from high anxiety in class settings (Stowell and Bennet, 2010), and even in cases where they are not invigilated, they do not seem to increase cheating behavior compared to class examinations (Beck, 2014;Hollister and Berenson, 2009;Williams and Wong, 2009). ...
... Online examinations also facilitate the opportunity to receive feedback (Williams, 2006), which might raise students' self-efficacy beliefs and through them their academic performance. Studies examining students' experiences in class and online examinations with MCQ show that online settings, where the students could complete the examination at a time that was best for them and where they received immediate feedback, reduced stress and allowed to focus on learning (Greenberg et al., 2009;Schmidt et al., 2009). ...
... Research also shows that the same patterns of connections emerge in online settings, although online examinations have been offered as a way to shift assessment from testing to authentic, real-life-like assessment methods. Online examinations with MCQ seem to reduce stress (Greenberg et al., 2009;Schmidt et al., 2009 Based on research concerning preparing for examinations (Scouller, 1998), we may ask the following: What kinds of learning strategies do students say that they employ in preparing for the open-book online examination? Moreover, open-web, open-book online examinations represent authentic assessments which urge students to act as problem-solvers (Herrington et al., 2004;Williams and Wong, 2009). ...
The aim of this study was to investigate university students’ experiences of open-book, open-web online examinations compared to traditional class examinations concerning preparing, responding, and learning. The data (N = 110) were collected by an online survey from the university students who took an online examination. The students used approximately the same time to study for an online examination as for faculty examination, but over half of them reported using more time for responding and learning more from an online examination compared to a faculty examination. The study supports the earlier findings that assessment methods are essential for students’ learning experiences and that self-efficacy beliefs are essential in positive learning experiences. It also indicates that self-efficacy is affected differently for different students by the online context and that the individual differences in experiencing the learning environment should be taken into account in assessment procedures.
... It is unclear, however, why online students outperformed F2F students only on Exam 3. Just as the results relating to exam scores of the current study were somewhat mixed, results of other studies pertaining to this factor are also mixed. Greenberg et al. (2009) investigated the effects of in-class and online exams on undergraduate students' performance on an in-class comprehensive final (n = 141) in a required educational psychology course in a teacher education program. Students were randomly assigned by course section to take one proctored exam in-class and two other unit exams online. ...
The purpose of this study was to compare learning outcomes in a stress management course delivered in an online environment with those in the traditional, face-to-face (F2F) classroom. Learning outcomes assessed were exam scores, perceptions relating to awareness of and ability to handle stress, and self-reported decreases in heart rates following five relaxation exercises. Impact of age and ethnicity on learning outcomes was also examined. Online students (n = 56) listened to audio recordings of relaxation techniques, while F2F students (n = 63) received the same material via on-campus classroom delivery. Differences in exam scores for two out of three exams were not statistically significant. F2F students felt more aware of stress compared to online students, but there were no significant differences in perceived ability to manage stress. Age and ethnicity were not significant predictors of the preceding factors. No statistically significant differences were found in heart rate drops following relaxation techniques with the exception of autogenic training, which resulted in greater heart rate drops in online students. For this group of students, taking a stress management course online appeared to be just as effective, and possibly even more effective with learning relaxation techniques, when compared to a classroom-based approach.
... There is a great debate if exams are the best way of assessing the students. As cited in Greenberg et al. (2009), pressure to perform on exams often results in cheating, in students "playing games" in order to succeed, and in an overall lack of depth of understanding. Furthermore, the emphasis on grades in a performance-centered environment often has emotional consequences on students' overall sense of self, their health, and their motivation (Weimer 2002). ...
Designing assessment schemes for higher level technical undergraduate courses in engineering is a challenge nowadays, especially in a changing educational environment. With more emphasis being placed on flexible learning modes and flexible assessment schemes, examiners are confronted with the review of the existing assessment schemes for the courses they teach. Traditionally, having a combination of assignments and examination has been the most popular method of assessments designed by course examiners. While different assessments give students a variety of opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of a subject, it is important to have a well-formulated assessment scheme to evaluate the students knowledge. When such courses are delivered for both on-campus and external students, achieving the correct balance between various assessment schemes is important while maintaining the quality of assessments. The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) in Australia is reputed for its external delivery of courses where 80% of the students study through this mode. Considering two courses offered at USQ in dual mode as case-studies, this paper highlights the main issues in reaching the right balance when designing assessment schemes, and discusses potential changes to assessment schemes to enhance student learning, as well as effective course delivery.