Abstract
The aim of this study is was discuss the effectiveness of a digital school examination practice which was developed, and cultivated at a Norwegian university’s business school over a 9-year period. In this innovative practice, we intended to align the digital school examinations constructively into the course design, and we crafted examination questions and problems aiming to motivate students to acquire a deep learning approach. To hinder cheating on examinations where students brought their own devices, they worked with semi-indivual exam papers. The issues were common, but the students worked with specific data sets. Consequently, no solutions were equal. Empirical indications of effectiveness was derived from multiple sources: a survey, grade distributions, exam scores on question/problem types, and strings from the examination marking. The results show that students were satisfied using spreadsheets on the final school examination, which also motivated them to utilize a spreadsheet in their day-to-day learning activities. Moreover, we found it reasonable to affirm that semi-individual examinations hindered digital cheating.
Highlights
In Norway, both primary and secondary school students utilise computers for learning and assessment and students progressing to higher education are, in general, digital literate (Ørnes, Wilhelmsen, & Breivik, 2011). This is due to a renewed interest in which Norwegian politicians stated, “In higher education the government wants students to be trained in using information and communication technology (ICT) as an integral part of their learning” (Report No 17 to the Storting, 2006–2007, p. 57)
When knowledge is assessed on final exams, they are still required to apply pen, paper, and a calculator even though such traditional tools are becoming increasingly outdated
To comply with both the students‟ request to use computers on an exam and educational objectives to utilise ICT as an integral part of the learning process (Report No 17 to the Storting, 2006–2007), we have at our business school designed a finance course in which students solve problems by using a spreadsheet on their own computers rather than a calculator
Summary
In Norway, both primary and secondary school students utilise computers for learning and assessment and students progressing to higher education are, in general, digital literate (Ørnes, Wilhelmsen, & Breivik, 2011). This is due to a renewed interest in which Norwegian politicians stated, “In higher education the government wants students to be trained in using information and communication technology (ICT) as an integral part of their learning” Students have asked why it is so important to develop digital skills when they cannot use such expertise in their respective exams This was seen, inter alia, in the “We want PCs on our Exam” student campaign in Norway, which occurred during autumn 2011. Realising that employers search for digitally competent candidates reinforces the idea that students should be allowed to use computers for their exams
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