Managers from companies sometimes tell me that their employees are cheating while taking tests and so they want to make the tests as secure as possible. So they ask us to make the tests complicated, the questions randomized and disable right click. We build some of those features. Obviously, these features complicate the test process, add to the stress level of the learner and make the whole learning process unpleasant.
I sometimes think that managers are missing the point. The main goal of a manager is to make his team members learn the subject matter so that that they are ready to do their job. By 'Cheating' during or just before the test, the learner is actually learning the answers to the all questions in the test subconsciously. Let them do that.
Fool them into thinking that they are cheating while they are actually learning.
There may some exceptions where these complex features are required. But for a vast majority of companies, the approach I specified will work very well.
I agree with you Prashanth and that might come as a surprise as I head up an enterprise assessment management system.
ReplyDeleteWe have worked with customers to understand the behaviors of learners when they visit publishers' web sites and it would appear that taking tests motivates visitors by creating intrigue and helps them focus their studies/learning. In some countries this, takign tests to learn, is now becoming an actively promoted learnng strategy.
But there are different knds of assessments and I'd rather my airline pilot and doctor has passed a valid and reliable summative assessments (test). So let's not throw out the baby with the bath-water.
There are a couple of blog posts that might help provide further distinctions and information on this:
- Types Of Assessments (Formative, Diagnostic, Summative, and Surveys) which explains how to distinguish the features of different assessments. This blog post is located at:
http://ericshepherd.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/types-of-assessments-formative-diagnostic-summative-and-surveys/
- Delivering Assessments Safely and Securely which deals with the issue of preventing costly and time wasting over-engineering of low-stakes assessments and/or the under-engineering of high-stakes assessments. You can find more information on this at:
http://ericshepherd.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/delivering-assessments-safely-and-securely/
I hope that this helps and keep up your great work, Eric
Eric, Thanks for the comment. Yes. I agree with your observation that there are specific situations where reliable summative assessments are required.
ReplyDeleteI was talking about formative tests, in business settings, where the primary purpose is to learn. For example a new employee is required to learn how to use the expense reporting system. The end goal there is teach the employee how to use the system so that they can be productive as quickly as possible. It does not matter if the employee cheats during the test. In this context, I think it is not cheating, it is learning.
Note: I think it is appropriate to disclose to the readers, that my product, SAP Enterprise Learning and Questionmark Perception have built in integration points. Companies use SAP Enterprise Learning in conjunction with Questionmark Perception.