The global education system previously followed a traditional system of learning wherein children used to attain face-to-face lectures and sit for manual tests. But the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up the entire education system by forcing educators to take the whole procedure online. Be it taking regular classes or conducting tests, the traditional pedagogical approach had to be quickly revamped for joining the online bandwagon. While teachers are banking on various e-learning tools for the educational aspect, the real problem arises in conducting evaluations via tests. Keeping such things in mind, we have come up with a list of the pattern of designing an online examination system. So, read on to know more about the right pattern to design an online exam to test your students in the most effective manner.
Table of Contents
Here Is a Ways to Design an Online Exam
1. Different Types Of Question
An online exam might have both objective and subjective type questions for checking the knowledge level of the candidates. Evaluators might be able to take their pick amongst fill in the blanks, MCQs, long answers, short answers, case studies, coding simulators etc for grading the examinee properly.
A properly designed online exam platform will provide teachers with a blend of both application and knowledge-based questions so that they can prepare the questionnaire accordingly. The advanced test platforms come with an exhaustive library of competencies which are mapped to relevant questions.
Examiners can easily select the skills they wish to test for framing the questionnaire accordingly. This helps in saving the valuable time and energy of the teachers.
2. Division Of Marks
Online exams should ideally allot marks against each question so that students can easily understand how much they can score from sitting in the exams. An online exam pattern might impose either variable or fixed marking system.
3. Time Limit Of Examination
The total number of questions in the exam determines its total duration. It can either be defined by minutes or seconds. Often the students might have time limits on answering each single question before proceeding with the next one.
Individual timings can add to the level of competitiveness and help students in finishing the exam in time. For example, students might be offered say 30 seconds for answering each question on passage of which the system automatically moves to the next one.
4. Order Of Questions
An online exam might present users with a question in sequential order. Alternatively, they might answer according to their desired preference. While designing the exam, teachers need to specify the sequence in advance.
5.Difficulty Level
The online exam pattern is such that it presents questions sub-divided into groups as per the level of difficulty. Here students can take their pick amongst different levels such as Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Difficult, and Very Difficult. While the students might get to select the difficulty level at times, usually this decision is taken by the evaluators themselves while designing the exam paper.
6. Randomization Of Questions
The exam admin might decide on evaluating a same batch of students with differential questions. This is especially helpful while conducting tests in different time slots and helps in preventing leakage of questions.
7. Marking System
Evaluators can either proceed with normal marking system or set negative marking to penalise the students against wrong answers. Under the negative marking system, certain marks are deducted against each incorrect response. Modern day education system is increasingly relying on onscreen evaluation systems which helps in declaring results within a short time span.
8. Evaluation Of Results
Ideally, online tests should allow evaluators to keep a tab on the progress of students. They can also access the statistics of past exams to understand whether the students are showing any signs of improvement. Students expect immediate results out of online evaluations.
Teachers should ideally publish the score of students along with a detailed exam analysis. The online exam pattern should be designed in such a way that the evaluators can export the results in an excel format for viewing the results per category and per student.
9. Overall Look & Feel
The online exam should have a tactile feel so that students don’t face any problem adjusting to this brand-new means of evaluation. It should look beautiful and feel responsive to any device. It also pays to have the backing of a support team that can cater to all your queries and concerns pertaining to the nitty-gritty of online evaluation.
Final Words
The best thing about online learning and evaluation is that it can even reach the remotest of areas without being too cost-intensive. A high level of flexibility also helps the students in scheduling the assessment exams as per their time of convenience.
The online exams allow students to undertake self-paced learning over a variety of platforms be it a tablet, desktop, or mobile. Over time this online education is expected to develop new skills amongst the students for life-long learning.
Also Read: What Are the Top New Technologies Emerging in the Education Industry?
FAQs
– Firstly, you need to ensure that you are in a quiet and secluded room with minimal disturbances.
– Next, you need to inspect your hardware setup in the form of laptop power, internet speed, and a properly functional microphone (for oral assignments).
– Lastly, you need to disable all system pop-ups and screen auto-lock to prevent redundant problems while actually taking the test.
– Firstly, you should try and log in again using your original credentials.
– If an error message shows ‘disabled password’, then you need to contact the test administrator.
– If you can log in, then you need to proceed with and complete the test.
