More universities are choosing to use e-exams rather than traditional written exams.
Universities such as Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Nottingham have all started to increase the number of exams completed on computers.
The rise in e-exams is partly due to the fact that students have poor handwriting skills as a result of their reliance on devices such as computers during lectures and seminars.
“The idea of using computers for writing in an exam is great in theory”
Victoria Scandlyn, a second-year English and American Studies student, told Impact: “The idea of using computers for writing in an exam is great in theory, but students should be given an option [for what] they would rather do, to avoid more stress with exams.”
Other reasons for using e-exams included increased efficiency in the way results are collated and marked.
Furthermore, this means that there are opportunities to introduce more creative ways of assessing students, such as using videos and graphics when setting questions.
“this means that there are opportunities to introduce more creative ways of assessing students”
However, this change brings into question the issue of cheating. Advocates of this method, however, have argued that there will be a “lock-down browser mode” that will cut access to the Internet, thus preventing students from cheating.
A second-year psychology student told Impact: “Having computers in exams could potentially be useful […]”
The student, however, agrees with Victoria, saying that “there should be a choice” as “people’s typing speeds vary.”
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Hannah O’Hanlon
Images courtesy of ‘Pete’ and ‘Damian Gadal’ via Flickr. License here.
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