D.K.Taylor@open.ac.uk
Thu, 5 Nov 1998 19:39:27 +0100
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 19:39:27 +0100 From: D.K.Taylor@open.ac.uk Subject: RE: [ifets] assessment in distance learning
I have been following the discussion about cheating in distance
assessment and thought I'd respond to Alfred's invitation.
Alfred Bork wrote:
Several recent articles have raised the question of assessment
in
distance learning, worrying about the problem of cheating.
This problem has long been addressed by the UK Open University.
Perhaps
someone from there would like to describe their procedures.
At the Open University we reduce the likelihood of cheating in a number
of ways. The integrity of the assessment process is considered of
critical importance so most courses (except some project and first level
courses) have both a continuous assessment element and an unseen,
invigilated examination, which *both* have to be passed in order to gain
an overall pass for the course. On courses without such an examination,
tutors have to verify that the work is the student's own, usually
through mandatory face-to-face contact. Compulsory random viva-voce
examinations may also be used in course assessment strategies. More
details below:
Continuous assessment:
All students are allocated to a (usually) local, part-time tutor, and
during the year they typically write 4 Tutor Marked Assignments (TMAs)
for a 30 point course and 6-8 TMAs for a 60 point credit course. Each
TMA is marked by their tutor and forwarded to a central office where the
scores and other assignment details are recorded on the students'
assessment record (on computer), a copy of the covering form taken for
record keeping and a sample taken for monitoring purposes (virtually all
tutors are monitored by a senior member of academic staff reviewing
their marking on each set of assignments to ensure that they are not too
lenient or harsh in their marking, and that they are giving a good level
of feedback comments to the students). The tutors also hold evening
tutorials for students, so usually get to know many of their students
and get a feel for their level of ability. Where it occurs, plagiarism
or collusion may be spotted by the tutor, as the TMAs are usually marked
as a batch, or possibly by the monitor. Computer Marked Assignments
(multiple choice questions with answers entered onto an Optical Mark
Reader form) are used much less frequently and usually have a much lower
weighting than TMAs. They also have an absolute cut-off date after which
they are rejected as it is much easier to cheat on such forms of
assessment.
NB We are also using a system where TMAs are submitted electronically
and marked on-screen by tutors using a marking tool (specially written
software), then returned to the system which records the scores
automatically and returns the TMA to the student by e-mail or via a web
download page.
Examinations:
Virtually all OU courses have an invigilated examination (except some
project and first level courses). This means that this October the
University organised examinations for approximately 140,000 students on
approximately 350 different courses at examination centres all over the
world. In the UK we have examination centres in most of the main cities
and towns and for overseas students exams are organised at a range of
venues (often local colleges). All of the examinations are fully
invigilated and the scripts are sealed into security envelopes after the
examination and returned to the OU. They are then logged in, sent to
scriptmarkers, the scores input into computer records, standardisation
changes made or re-marks done if scriptmarkers were found to be too
harsh.
Award of Results:
The continuous assessment scores and the examination scores are
conflated together by the computer and computer printouts are presented
to Award Boards containing all of the assessment details (we have
courses with 6,000-7,000 students on them so this is the only way it can
be done). The computer printouts also flag up various items e.g. where
the student has submitted "special circumstances" information relating
to factors which have affected their study, and where there is a
particularly large difference between the continuous assessment and
examination scores for a particular student (i.e. greater than 30
marks). These can then be investigated if the Award Board so wishes. The
Award Board can also ask a student to take a viva-voce examination to
gain more information about their abilities. Any changes made by the
Award Boards are then recorded and the results are issued.
It is crucial to note though, that there are pass thresholds for *both*
the continuous assessment *and* the examination so students have to pass
both separately - a high score in the continuous assessment will *not*
counteract a low exam score. Thus students have to have a sufficient
grasp of the course concepts to be able to pass an unseen, invigilated
examination (where their identity is checked) in order to pass the
course.
Courses without an examination ensure some form of verification by tutor
that the student's work is their own. This is usually done through
mandatory face-to-face contact and/or compulsory random viva-voce
examinations. Projects are double marked, usually once by the student's
tutor, who will usually flag up if they think that the work is not the
student's own. Viva voce examinations can be used by Award Boards to
ensure that the work is the student's.
Hope this is informative, if long, contribution!
Regards,
Dean Taylor
Learning Technologies and Teaching Office
(until recently an administrator in the Examinations & Assignments
Section)
d.k.taylor@open.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1908 655518
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