Questioning the quality of online classes without tests.

I meant to type... I don't think tests are *always* the answer. I'm sure they have their place... especially for things like ACT and SAT. A capstone project for, say, high school would probably be impossible. But, college course capstone projects or activities I remember more from than from exams. I've never really liked exams, but that's just me. I've had too many professors give me 100+ question multiple choice exams. I can cram for them and pass them, but gain next to nothing from that style test. A thought-provoking exam with essay questions and a handful of multiple choice could have drastically better results.

I would say student enthusiasm is the biggest issue. A student can study and cram to get an A on an exam and remember nothing later. Another student who enjoys the subject might read all of the textbooks, attend class 100%, and really remember things.

 

I've come to the conclusion that open book tests in distance learning add value to learning. Example - I took my final a few weeks ago. The final took me 16 hours to complete. The final consisted of 10 multiple-part essay questions. Students can only retain "x" percent of the information learned. Taking the final forced me research and review the course topics all over again, which learn the same information over again that I already forgotten.

 

Very good. I agree 100%.

 

:wink:

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Agreed, absolutely. I think opponents of it are not looking at the positive (and most important) aspect; the act of researching in the moment, and the process of reviewing to solidify what you've learned.

The first time I was ever exposed to open book exams was in 12th grade Health class. I thought the teacher wasn't feeling well when he told us our exam was open book. But after several of them, I began to realize that I was retaining the information better and actually knew and understood what I was retaining, rather than just memorizing a definition temporarily to pass.

After finishing a degree at a school with open book exams, I remember trying some dummy courses out at another program. The program had practice exams on a few subjects I'd already taken. Not only did I remember the information from before very vividly because the prior course setup forced me to review the material many times, but the lowest score I got on these practices tests was a 95. So those two situations have made me a firm believer that this method is effective.