{"id":7338,"date":"2018-09-22T10:21:08","date_gmt":"2018-09-22T09:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/?p=7338"},"modified":"2018-09-25T14:33:51","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T13:33:51","slug":"are-electronic-examinations-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Are electronic examinations the future?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Electronic examinations are exams that are carried out on computers or mobile devices rather than on paper. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sussex.ac.uk\/profiles\/125778\">Paolo Oprandi<\/a> shares his insights from the \u2018<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Remaking Marking: Electronic Management of Assessment&#8217; event in Reading on emerging practice in this area across the UK HE sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why are universities considering electronic exams?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are a number of reasons why institutions are looking at electronic exams. Arguably the main reason is that electronic examinations reduce, and in many case completely remove, the need for paper handling and as a result are usually far more efficient for passing around grades and moderating marking. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The other reason is that throughout their studies students use word processors, but one of the few times we expect them to hand write is under examination conditions. Therefore it is argued electronic examinations provide a more realistic environment. Furthermore, there are studies which indicate that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tes.com\/news\/could-handwriting-bias-write-exam-chances\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">students\u2019 grades can be subject to handwriting bias<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and electronic examinations overcome this problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7341\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1555\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams.jpg 1555w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-300x91.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-768x234.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-1024x311.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-100x30.jpg 100w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-150x46.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-200x61.jpg 200w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-450x137.jpg 450w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-600x183.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/09\/electronic-exams-900x274.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1555px) 100vw, 1555px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brunel is a UK university that has taken the prospect of electronic examinations seriously. They have been piloting the use of electronic exams since 2015 when they ran four exams. In the years since then they have steadily increased the number they have run so that last year they ran twenty-five electronic examinations. This number is set to increase in future. They use a Danish product called <a href=\"https:\/\/europe.wiseflow.net\/\">Wiseflow<\/a> for the management of these examinations.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Advantages and Disadvantages of electronic exams<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are a number of advantages to using electronic exams, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Versatility.<\/strong> You can mix and match the question styles on exams and include videos and audio to make them more interactive than paper exams.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Authenticity.<\/strong> Professionals are usually expected to write formal pieces of work using a computer so electronic exams more closely replicate real world conditions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Efficiency.<\/strong>\u00a0Typed responses are more easily read and grades can be quickly and easily transferred to the student record system as they are already in a digital format, thus reducing time and effort on the part of markers. Furthermore, for some types of question such as multiple choice, marking can be done without human intervention providing the student with the opportunity to receive immediate feedback and eliminating human error from the marking process.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of course there are disadvantages as well, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Equity.<\/strong> Some students may not be as confident on computers as others.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Reliability.<\/strong> The computer has a higher propensity to fail than a pen. Furthermore, there are security issues &#8211; does the software adequately eliminate the ability to cheat?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Cost.<\/strong> It will cost money to change systems. There will also be set-up costs, support overheads and a cost to providing the computers for those students who do not have their own. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And there are context issues as well, such as disciplinary requirements. There may be barriers to using electronic examinations in some disciplines where complex diagrams are needed such as mathematics and chemistry. However this does not completely disclude these subjects from using them. There are still advantages and in many cases electronic examinations will better demonstrate required skills. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Are electronic examinations the future?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Electronic examinations is something actively on the radar at the University of Sussex where we have already established sophisticated workflows for the electronic submission, marking and provision of feedback on in-course assessment through integrations between our online study platform Canvas and our in-house student record system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the EMA event Brunel shared the following statements they had collected:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students say, &#8220;It&#8217;s much better to write exams on a laptop&#8221;.<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Staff say, &#8220;It&#8217;s so nice to be able to read the scripts&#8221;.<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Administrative staff say, &#8220;Processing exams is so much easier&#8221;.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-7338\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-7338\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to print (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-pinterest-7338\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Electronic examinations are exams that are carried out on computers or mobile devices rather than on paper. Paolo Oprandi shares his insights from the \u2018Remaking Marking: Electronic Management of Assessment&#8217; event in Reading on emerging practice in this area across<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-7338\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-7338\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=tumblr\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to print (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pinterest\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-pinterest-7338\" class=\"share-pinterest sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=pinterest\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pinterest\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/09\/22\/are-electronic-examinations-the-future\/?share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[98286],"tags":[241,4958,157022],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IWEK-1Um","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5896,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2017\/03\/21\/electronic-submission-feedback-sussex-story-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":7338,"position":0},"title":"Electronic submission and feedback at Sussex - the story so far","date":"21st March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This summer will see the graduation of the first student cohort to have experienced electronic submission and feedback throughout their\u00a0time studying at Sussex. To mark this significant milestone, this blog post reflects on the story so far. Starting in 2014, members of staff from across many Schools and Professional Services\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Marking and assessment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Infinite Loop by Faruk Ate\u00c5\u009f","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2017\/03\/250686996_18b55710b5_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9576,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2023\/07\/11\/how-technology-has-helped-deliver-better-professional-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":7338,"position":1},"title":"How technology has helped deliver better professional services","date":"11th July 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog usually concerns itself with learning technologies, but this week I am looking at some of the advances in the technology that Professional Services staff use to support teaching, learning, assessment and the general student experience. I know we all complain when the systems don\u2019t quite do what we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;digital skills&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2023\/07\/laptop-5496983_1280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4204,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2016\/06\/07\/constructively-aligning-criterion-feedback-using-turnitin\/","url_meta":{"origin":7338,"position":2},"title":"Constructively aligning criterion feedback using Turnitin","date":"7th June 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Implementing processes to support the electronic management of assessment has been a priority for many universities and colleges in recent years, with many making use of Turnitin as a means\u00a0of checking the originality of submitted work and providing feedback to students. \u00a0 The University of Sussex have been using Turnitin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Marking and assessment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Capture","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2016\/06\/Capture-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6685,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2018\/02\/23\/canvas-highlights-3-peer-assessment\/","url_meta":{"origin":7338,"position":3},"title":"Canvas highlights 3. Peer Assessment","date":"23rd February 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"[note: this post has been updated to reflect a terminology change on the Sussex Canvas VLE, to align it to Sussex terminology] Continuing our Canvas highlights series, this week we are looking at peer assessment. In Canvas it is possible to set \u2018Assignments\u2019 to enable students to mark and review\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Canvas&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Canvas Highlights 3. Peer Assessment","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2018\/01\/3-peer-assessment-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9781,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2024\/01\/25\/your-students-dont-know-what-a-rubric-is-and-maybe-you-dont-either\/","url_meta":{"origin":7338,"position":4},"title":"Your students don't know what a RUBRIC is \u2013 and maybe you don\u2019t either?","date":"25th January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Sam Hemsley, Academic Developer, University of Sussex One of the first pieces of work I took on when joining the Educational Enhancement team as an Academic Developer in September 2021, was to contribute to the content of a guidance page on the \u2018Principles of rubrics and grading forms\u2019. At\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic Development&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2024\/01\/Rubric-Blog-Picture.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8489,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2020\/09\/29\/co-created-marking-criteria\/","url_meta":{"origin":7338,"position":5},"title":"Co-created marking criteria","date":"29th September 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Thankyou for reading this EE blog post this is representative at the time it was written. Over this summer the University of Sussex Business School embarked on a project to co-create new marking criteria for assessments within their courses. This project saw students, academics and professional services staff come together\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Marking and assessment&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/files\/2020\/09\/list-2389219_1280.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7338"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7338"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7349,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7338\/revisions\/7349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}