2 March 2016: Designing for Learner Engagement with Computer-based Summative Exams

Presenters: Richard Walker (E-Learning Development) and Zoe Handley (Department of Education), University of York, UK

Hosted by Dr Mathew Hillier, Monash University, Australia. Starting 07:00AM UTC/GMT. Duration 54 Minutes.

How do we prepare university students for high stakes computer-based testing? What steps should instructors take to ensure that students can perform to the best of their abilities? These are the some of the questions that this session explored.

A Learner Engagement with e-Assessment (LEe-AP) framework for instructors has been developed which highlights engagement issues when introducing computer-based assessment and includes guidance for students and instructors. The framework touches on socialisation measures, preparation for test-taking, revision strategies, test organisation and the presentation of questions via the user interface. The session explored the experiences of postgraduate education students taking high stakes computer-based examinations as well as reflections on practice after using the framework to prepare a new MA cohort (2015-16) and in mock exams held in November 2015 and January 2016.

Further information

• Slide Set: TA_webinar_2_mar_2016_slides.pdf [6.9MB] [PPTx 4.8MB]
• Chat Log (edited for clarity): TA_webinar_2mar2016_chat_log.txt
• Richard Walker's: staff profile.
• Zoe Handley's: staff profile.
• Links shared during the session:
  • Summary of the LEeAP engagement framework http://tinyurl.com/LEeAP-framework [pdf]
  • A video case study of our VLE exam design approach: https://elearningyork.wordpress.com/learning-design-and-development/case-studies/vle-exam/
  • More detail on the technology setup used: https://elearningyork.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/durham2016_vle-exam.pptx
  • More information on the item analysis techniques used; screen cast from a colleague: https://elearningyork.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/running-item-analysis-on-a-test
• Full text paper: Walker, R., & Handley, Z. (2015). Engaging learners in computer-based summative exams: Reflections on a participant-informed assessment design. ALT-C 2015: Shaping the future of learning together, Manchester, 8-10 September 2015. [PDF]

Session Recording

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