Test is a word that students often don't like to hear.
This might explain why news of new methods of testing online has been the subject of recent debate at Penn State.
Ralph Locklin, University Testing Services director, said there are two systems for computer-based testing that university officials are trying to integrate into one.
The first is a Web-based system in which the faculty has direct access to create and import test questions.
The second system is used in the Smeal College of Business and runs on a Local Area Network (LAN) instead of on the Web. This type of system is used mostly in large-enrollment core courses.
Online testing is becoming very popular in business courses. It has taken the place of exams that are held in the large auditoriums, which can be very noisy and distracting and often times a prime opportunity for cheating, Locklin said.
The new computer tests, however, are held in small computer labs, where students are scheduled to come at different times, so there are fewer people and less noise.
A major concern about this type of testing is that because the tests are scheduled at different times over a period of a couple days, students will discuss them and will have even more of a chance to cheat.
At the beginning of the test, students are reminded of the university's academic integrity statement and instructed to sign a form before taking the exam.
Allison Jenks (junior-business) said, "I think that students still talk about the test when it's over, and tell their friends who haven't taken it yet what is on the exam."
Locklin said there are many procedures in place to curb this sort of thing from happening.
The questions on each test are scrambled and over the different time periods the tests are given, they examine the scores to see if there is an upward trend, which may lead to an investigation of suspected cheaters.
This type of occurrence actually happened last fall, Locklin said, which lead the faculty to find that almost 10 percent of the students taking the test had cheated.
Locklin said the benefits of online tests greatly outweigh the possible problems. "The computer tests provide immediate feedback and statistical analysis. It also provides additional information so that the teachers can very specifically tune the exams to these questions and problems," he said.
Paul Graf, economics lecturer, used a form of online quizzes last semester in his economics classes.
The quizzes were low-stakes quizzes, Graf said. The students are able to take them in a lab, as many times as they want over a given period of time. After answering the questions, the correct answer pops up on the screen.
The purpose of the low-stakes quizzes is for the students to be rewarded for learning the information.
"I think that it's a nice alternative to problem sets or take-home tests, and it's easy for students to go at their leisure," Graf said. He also said he does not think online tests should be used in place of major exams.
In addition, some students have complaints about large online exams.
"I like flipping through real pages of a test and being able to write on the test. They give you a small scrap of paper to write on, but if you need more room, you have to turn in the first paper in order to get another," Jenks said.
Josi Miller (sophomore-marketing) who took Graf's economics course last fall, said she thinks the tests are more convenient and easier to fill in than scantron tests.
"It's nice if you miss a class because then you don't miss the quizzes," she added.
Miller also agrees that even though online tests are convenient in some classes, there are others in which it would not work well.
Locklin said the majority of the computer testing is being used in business classes, but some other faculty are beginning to see the possibilities.
"The biggest benefit is students are able to use the rich multimedia environment like their professors use in the classroom. There is more and more information, not just educational but worldwide, that is being presented in this way," Locklin said.
