Open Book Lab Test
This page describes an implementation of an assessment method by a lecturer or group of lecturers. The content of the page is the result of an interview conducted through the RAFT project in DIT in the 2013-14 Academic Year.
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Lecturer and Contact Details
Description
A programming exercise in the form of a requirements specification to be completed within the specified time with allowed use of notes, books, code and internet.
Level of Learning outcomes measured
Students can demonstrate their ability to analyse a requirements specification, develop program code and test their resulting programs.
What have you found are the advantages of using this form of assessment?
- Students are not required to learn material by rote.
- It targets their ability to apply what they have learned.
- The results reflected the ability/skills/work rate of students.
What have you found are the dis-advantages of using this form of assessment?
- As it is open book, some students do not prepare adequately.
- Some students would spend their test time trying to fit existing code/notes into a solution to the problem which wastes their test time and generally results in a poor submission.
Alternatives
Could possibly be run as a closed book test if the goal was more to focus the students attention and preparation on an important topic. However, the goal of the open book test to assess the student’s ability to solve a problem given whatever aids are at hand which reflects the real world situations that programmers face.
Assessment in practice
- As it is open book, students can use their own laptops if desired.
- For large classes – close proximity of pc’s and laptops can be problematic with regards to copying.
- If multiple class groups are being tested at different times, one needs to bear in mind submissions left on lab pc’s etc.
- For large classes, marking time can be quite lengthy.
Additional Comments
The clear positive impact of this method is that it had an impact on the group as a whole and the dynamic of the group as they became much less self-conscious as the weeks went on.
Assessment Time
- Preparation time (lecturer): 3 hours
- Student time to complete: 1.5 hours
- Marking time : depends on assignment but approx. 15 mins per student
- Ease of Feedback : quite easy if using moodle/webcourses for submissions
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