A systematic review – handwritten examinations are becoming outdated, is it time to change to typed examinations in our assessment policy?

Abstract

With the advances of technologies, possessing digital and information literacy is crucial for the selection of candidates by employers in this digital AI era. For most students, receiving and outputting electronic text has become the norm, and thus examinations with writing components done by hand may not accurately reflect their abilities. It seems that such traditional handwritten examinations are incongruous when assignments are now expected to be in typed formats, so the question is should it become part of the university assessment policy to make it compulsory for students to type their examinations? To better assist higher education institutions in planning for long-term, future-oriented assessment policies, this study provides a systematic review of the literature focusing on typed and handwritten examinations. A classification scheme of the unambiguous advantages and disadvantages, ambivalent factors, and impacts and perceptions for different stakeholders, is developed based on the findings to provide a thorough and concrete foundation for stakeholders to act upon and navigate the complexities of transitioning to typed examinations.