A growing trend on campus has been new technological testingmethods. Many instuctors have been converting from their typicalpencil and scantron testing methods to computer based tests.
The new testing methods allow students to take their test over aperiod of time, raising concerns of cheating and test equality.However, the tests are fair, Joseph A. Hutchinson, executivedirector for Centers for Excellence in Learning and Teaching,said.
The temporary testing facility center, in both Himes Hall andthe Pentagon Dining Hall, works with instructors to create a testitem bank that provides 20 to 30 items that deal with the sameconcept, Hutchinson said.
“It’s a large number of equivalent questions. The details can bechanged and the sequence of questions and answers are scrambled,”Hutchinson said.
The system also provides advantages to students that traditionaltesting does not. Students are given several days to schedule testsat their convenience. With several curriculums, pre-tests also areavailable through the computer testing to help students prepare,Hutchinson said.
“The number of instructors using these programs is growingsubstantially,” Hutchinson said. Academic departments thatcurrently use the system include biology, music, accounting andmathematics, Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said the tests are instructionally better becausethey give the student immediate feedback and also allow for moretime to learn in class because time is not taken out of class toadminister tests.
The administration also benefits from paperless testing. Thescores are delivered to the professors and are statisticallycategorized, letting the professor know what topics the studentsstruggled with.
“This type of testing changes the college curriculum. Professorsdo not have to hire graduate assistants to help administer tests,”Hutchinson said.
The testing has seen an improvement in students’ grades becauseof the capabilities of computerized testing, Hutchinson said.
The computers are able to simulate a more real-world situationof the test, Bobby Matthews, director of the Center for Excellencein Learning and Teaching, said.
Most students prefer the testing because they are comfortablewith the technology, Matthews said.
“It really enhances learning. Graphics are easily used to helptests. For example, cell biology can actually show a cell and musicappreciation can actually play music during the testing,” Matthewssaid.
The University bought a license to run the software Perception.The University then developed the program for the school’s specificneeds, Matthews said.
“Student learning is the University’s most importantresponsibility and the computer testing helps that,” Matthews said.”This type of testing catches up with what we already know aboutthe brain and how it learns.”
The current testing facilities include 55 seats in the basementof Himes Hall and also 96 seats in the Pentagon testing center,David O’ Brien, a computer manager at the Center for Assesment andEvaluation, said.
The number of classes that use this testing has more thandoubled this semester. The mathematics department recently hasadded its trigonometry and business calculus classes to thecomputer testing, which has doubled the amount of tests taken eachweek. Over a thousand tests are administered each week in HimesHall, O’Brien said.
More than 1500 tests also were administered in the Pentagontesting center one day last year, Matthews said.
The testing center has been so popular that the University isimplementing a plan to change the entire basement in Himes into acomputer testing facility with 350 to 400 computers and willinclude video surveillance for cheating, Matthews said.
The computerized testing also has eliminated much cheating ontests. Since students cannot look at the person next to them andbecause each test is different, there are fewer chances to cheat,Hutchinson said. The rooms also are monitored by proctors who checkeach student’s scratch paper and calculators, Hutchinson said.
“We have about five instances of cheating per semester,” O’Briensaid.
However not all students agree that the testing is beneficial.Angelle Noel, a biological sciences freshman, took a test for Math1022 and said the technology was not reliable.
“My test was scheduled for five but I didn’t get to take ituntil 6:30 because the computers were down,” Noel said.
Noel also said the computer went down several times during hertest and the computer solutions did not provide many options.
“With a scantron you have options. A computer does not havebrains,” Noel said.
Danielle Marchand, a biological sciences freshman, agreed thatthe computer testing came with difficulties.
The biology test did not contain many graphics, Marchand said.She added that when she was finished with her test, it would notsubmit and that the proctor instructed her to leave her test andsaid he would submit it later.
“It made me really nervous,” Marchand said.
The biology pre-test was beneficial but students would rathertake an actual hands-on test, Marchand said.
Hutchinson does not think that all testing will eventually beconverted to a computerized system.
“One size does not fit all, not all classes will go to this,”Hutchinson said.