Proctoring

Paper-Based vs. Computer-Based Testing

Paper-Based vs. Computer-Based Testing

 

Are you tired of sorting paper tests, grading answers by hand, and inputting responses into your gradebook one-by-one? We don’t blame you. 

Many university academic programs are turning to computer-based testing and assessments, utilizing the help of automated proctoring to free up faculty resources lost with paper-based testing. Having the ability to test multiple learning objectives while reducing required grading time and energy is a determining factor in the rise in popularity of computer testing. Offering shorter, more frequent exams by computer can reduce student stress, and many students enjoy the benefit of receiving immediate feedback on their performance. In addition, retesting increases the likelihood of a student being able to recall information. 

While some instructors are concerned about the accuracy of automatic grading, studies have shown that the method of test distribution has no positive or negative effect on test scores. Some instructors may be wary of using an automated grading system for questions with subjective answers, but an easy solution is using a software with the ability to grade multiple-choice and short-answer questions automatically while allowing individual essay questions to be graded manually. 

Another concern is that testing from home unproctored may encourage dishonest test-taking behavior. The use of an automated proctor, which we addressed in an earlier blog, The Benefits of Automated Proctoring, can ensure that students are completing tests honestly and without assistance from outside parties. Lockdown browsers, randomized questions, and large test banks can also assist with the prevention of cheating, all functions available within our testing and assessment application, ExamN.

In addition to being user-friendly, some online systems also allow instructors to aggregate test results into reports, so that they can locate un-met standards in their curriculum and track a student’s progress over a period of time. Creating a record of questions and tests permits instructors to adjust their tests for future semesters or periods and review past performance. 

Eager to see how your program can go paperless? Sign up for a demo with us.

Scratch-Off Testing

Scratch-Off Testing

 

Tests are a critical factor in determining a student’s achievement and future success. Assessments push students to reason and reflect on their studies, but most importantly to think critically. With features such as Scratch-Off Testing in ExamN+, assessing online gives students the necessary functions to fully engage and learn.

The Scratch-Off Testing feature in ExamN+ allows students to retake a question. If the student selects the incorrect answer on a question, that answer will become unavailable on their next attempt. Students then may select a different answer option. 

Scratch-Off Testing, also known as the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) on paper, has a point profile concept. This means the number of points is adjusted and awarded based on how many attempts it took a student to select the correct answer. The total number of points is reduced a percentage until the correct answer is selected. This gives students the ability to re-evaluate questions and determine what they need to do differently.

IF-AT has been found to be an effective form of testing. IF-AT doesn’t just assess students on what they already know, but it teaches them as well. This ensures that the last response a student gives is the correct answer, no matter how many times it took them. If the student gets the answer correct the first time, student learning and studying is reinforced immediately.

As deeper learning occurs when a test or assignment is interactive, students will have a finer understanding of the content they are testing on with Scratch-Off Testing. Immediate feedback gives the student the opportunity to reflect on their performance and think of ways to improve their scores next time. When feedback is goal focused and tangible, it is exceptionally helpful to the student. With Scratch-Off Testing, the student immediately knows if they got the question wrong. This will eliminate any false beliefs students may have over a specific topic. It reiterates the importance of the content in the assessment.

Using features such as Scratch-Off Testing to critique a student’s understanding is tremendously motivational and much more attractive to students. This type of testing is extremely engaging for students as they may still earn some credit, even after answering the question incorrectly. They will feel less defeated and have a better opportunity to retain the correct information, even if they got it wrong the first time. It is just one of the many features ExamN+ offers in order to improve student achievement.

Interested in more effective and interactive online testing features for students? Sign up for a demo with us.

iRAT/tRAT

iRAT/tRAT

Readiness Assurance Testing (RAT) is meant to determine if a student is ready or prepared to move onto the next section in class. It is broken down into two parts: Individual Readiness Assurance Testing (iRAT) and Team Readiness Assurance Testing (tRAT). The iRAT is given to the students individually, and after completion, they receive their score without knowing which ones are correct or incorrect. Then, students get into groups to take the same test. This allows students to discuss the questions and teach concepts to one another promoting team based learning. Implementing iRAT and tRAT have been very beneficial to students overall retention of information and final exam scores. 

eMedley has built iRAT and tRAT into the ExamN+ module. We have made it simple to schedule tests to individuals and to groups for iRAT and tRAT. You schedule the test as iRAT/tRAT and select the students to administer the test to.

When students take the iRAT, they will be able to immediately see their score. It does not show the student which questions they missed but an overall total. This allows the students to have more honest discussions when they take the tRAT. The tRAT is available directly after seeing the score from taking the test individually. The same exact test is administered to all the students again, but at the end of the test, they will be able to see their correct and incorrect responses and discuss with their group.

tRAT has the Scratch-Off Testing feature available. This feature makes the students answer the question correctly before moving on. This allows students to answer a question, but if they answer incorrectly, that answer is no longer available to select, and they get to select again. This leads to more discussions and a better understanding of the information. Each time they select a wrong answer, the points they receive goes down, so you will still be able to see reliable data. 

eMedley also has correlated a report connecting the iRAT and tRAT scores for comparison. This gives faculty a way to track each question and each student’s score. You will be able to see the difference and benefit of using tRAT after an iRAT. The report will give you an understanding of which questions work better for iRAT/tRAT and which questions shouldn’t be included. It will also help you see if the content is being learned by the students by comparing these scores.

Advanced Question Types

Advanced Question Types

 

Challenging and keeping students engaged while taking online tests is critical to their mastery. These six advanced question types offered in the ExamN+ system gives students the opportunity to have an increased understanding of test material. These advanced testing types have scientifically proven benefits in relation to student success.

Choice Matrix question types in ExamN+ allow administrators to create rows and columns. Points are assigned in the correct boxes when matched with the correct answer. Choice Matrix questions are easily analyzable and clearly communicate what concepts are confusing to students. They are more dynamic as this type of question makes the student do more than just selecting an answer.

Matching Drag/Drop questions have administrators create matching possibilities with answers. The students are to drag and drop their matches while taking the assessment. Matching Drag/Drop questions are considered to be more interactive and students report them being more enjoyable. These question types require more from the students than just selecting an answer. Matching Drag/Drop questions are extremely valuable as many concepts are being tested on.

For Fill in the Blank question types, administrators can add as many possible answers with points attached to each blank. Fill in the Blank questions are essential to student’s learning as they minimize guessing and encourage more intense studying. Since students can’t see the answer, they have to know the information, and not just pull it from memory. Fill in the Blank questions provide a better measurement of mastery. 

A Hotspot question in ExamN+ is made up of a picture. Administrators assign a place or multiple places on an image with a hotspot. Students then are to select the correct hotspot(s). Similar to Fill in the Bank question types, Hotspot questions reduce guessing and cueing. Since Hotspot is a visual question type, students respond more positively and retention time is more long-term compared to short-term. Hotspot questions are also interactive, which keep students challenged and engaged.

Drawing question types allow students to mark up an image with the use of their mouse in relation to the specific question. Drawing questions benefit students’ learning as they reportedly increase recall by nearly double. Memory strength is dependent on how information is encoded. Drawing question types engage motor action and pictorial processing by drawing and viewing the image. Drawing information is incredibly beneficial to students’ long-term memory. 

Ordering question types in ExamN+ is creating a process and in turn having the students order the process correctly. This advanced question type makes questions much more challenging for students. Students have to construct a sequence or process rather than having to recognize the correct sequence. This challenges the students and encourages extensive studying.

ExamN+ provides programs with advanced question types that improve information retention time, encourage intensified studying, increase engagement, and challenge students.

Interested in increasing student mastery? Sign up for a demo.

Smart Test Generation

Smart Test Generation

To build a test for every student that covers the same material, but all the tests are different sounds impossible and too time consuming. There has always been the option to build multiple versions of the same test, but they still have the same questions but in a different order. Not only do we have every option available to create the best tests for students, but we have created a tool to significantly decrease the act of cheating and increase the ability to create different versions of the same tests efficiently. This tool is our Smart Test Generation. 

eMedley’s Test Generation

Test Generation is a computer automated tool that randomizes questions for each test. This will create a different test for every student by pulling questions from multiple question banks you select. This feature is so cool because you still get to customize it yourself. It allows you to choose how many questions from each question bank to pull. This makes it more efficient to cover all standards and competencies and topics by choosing how many questions the students need for mastery. 

You are creating a quiz over the last three units: Unit A, Unit B, and Unit C.

  • Unit A has 20 questions
  • Unit B has 22 questions
  • Unit C has 15 questions

The new quiz you are creating is going to have 10 questions in it to see how well the students are retaining the information. The students performed poorly on Unit A, average on Unit B, and very well on Unit C. 

  • Pull 4 questions from Unit A
  • Pull 3 questions from Unit B
  • Pull 2 questions from Unit C
  • 1 specific question from Unit A

For every student, the new quiz will include the 1 specific question everyone missed from Unit A as well as 4 random questions from the remaining 19. Every student will also have 3 random questions form Unit B’s 22 and 2 random questions from Unit C’s 15. This will provide a varying version of the quiz for every student.

How it Helps

One of the biggest benefits to instructors is that it saves time when creating tests. This is because the randomization of questions allows instructors to select different groups of questions that cover various subjects and know that each test will all be different but contain all the material. The instructor only has to select the question sets they want once and they are done; every student receives different tests. The instructor also has the availability of all the question sets built previously in for the class. They can also move questions around into different sets for more variability and control over what questions the computer pulls from that set. 

Instructors are not the only ones who benefit from our test generation, students do too. The control instructors have over question sets and how many questions are pulled from each one benefits the students. Because instructors know the areas students are struggling in, they can adjust which subjects needed the most work for mastery and choose to pull more questions from that section. 

There are a couple of benefits for the school as well. The difference in each test is something that I keep bringing up, but it is that important because it helps the students learn, it helps the teachers create tests, and it significantly reduces the chances for cheating. By building this academic integrity, it makes reports and alignments more accurate giving the school a better understanding of their program’s success.

The Benefits Of Automated Proctoring

The Benefits Of Automated Proctoring

 

Looking for a way to discourage academic dishonesty, without breaking the bank? Studies show that 40 to 70 percent of college students have admitted to cheating at some time during their academic careers. Knowing that a testing session is being recorded by proctoring software and is viewable by an instructor after an exam is more than enough to discourage both first-time and repeat offenders. Using a remote or automated proctor also improves the credibility of your institution’s program.

 The amount of students who participate in distance education or that are considered non-traditional is growing, increasing the demand for online exams. Allowing students to use a remote proctor can reduce unnecessary travel time, staff responsible for proctoring and scheduling tests, and the need for testing centers. 

With automated proctoring, instructors have the opportunity to schedule an exam for a particular time window, and students can take it at their leisure. This removes a lot of the time-management related stress that comes with testing; students with families or jobs can focus on test content instead of scheduling. 

But how does it work?

Automated proctoring software uses facial recognition to analyze behavioral patterns and learn from them. With a photo of the student, software can determine if the correct student is taking the test. It can also record video of students and their screens during an exam via a webcam, with the option of recording audio as well. Lockdown Browsers can also be used to prevent students from having multiple windows open, or copying questions to send to classmates. 

There are two types of automated proctoring. Some proctoring solutions are tightly integrated within a software solution, or are controlled by third parties. Using a solution such as eProctor that is integrated with testing software has three main benefits:

  1. Data is centrally housed, reducing data discrepancies.
  2. Users have better control of sensitive student information and data.
  3. Trends can be tracked across tests and time using advanced reporting capabilities.

eProctor uses facial tracking, multi-face detection, and hand detection, software flags behaviors that it recognizes as suspicious, and stores those moments away for an instructor to later view and evaluate the level of suspicion. It will document if it sees more than one face, it can’t see an entire face, the student looks away, or there’s hand movement. This is to discourage students from using their notes or collaborating with others during an exam. 

If you would like more information on how to increase the credibility of your institution at a low cost, set up a demo with us. 

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