Abstract

Online examinations, commonly referred to as e-exams (electronic examinations), underwent a considerable progression, getting adapted ubiquitously among higher education institutions worldwide. Their preferment was rapid due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The process of conducting exams online is being opted as the appropriate way of assessment, ensuring the students’ safety and well-being. According to Warts et al., this form of examination has been pretty effective in the past when blended with the conventional assessment. However, at present, implemented as the singular way of assessment, e-exams have shown a more significant promise in being beneficial to the learners. As a matter of fact, a comprehensive analysis on understanding the learners’ perception towards the e-exams was not done earlier, particularly in the developing nations. Thus, it was pertinent to examine the pre-requisites of e-exams to promote it as a useful tool for the smooth conduct of exams in the aforesaid nations. Against such a backdrop, this study was conducted during January to March 2021 on 207 students enrolled in four universities, three situated in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, India: Delhi University (DU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and one situated in Saudi Arabia, namely Saudi Electronic University (SEU). A quantitative approach was employed for the study, with the responses recorded via web questionnaires. Confirmatory -factor analysis (CFA) was applied in the study to examine whether the process of conducting online examinations is being chosen as the appropriate form of assessment, ensuring the safety and well-being of students through AMOS (version 24) software. For determining the reliability of the two latent constructs, namely “Perceptions of students towards E-exams (PSE)” and “Pre-requisites of E-exams (POE),” Cronbach’s alpha was used through SPSS (version 25) software in the study, and the results reveal that the strong internal consistency exists between all the measured variables. In addition, the mean and standard deviation were used by the researchers to find out the pre-requisites of the online examination system. The participants expressed their insights on the relative benefits of online examination. Their perception was based on pedagogy, validity and reliability, affective factors, practicality, and security. From their insights, it was concluded that online examination is more advantageous than conventional paper-based exams. The outcome also applies to the authenticity of grading and the overall efficiency concerning the time, effort, and expenditure on conducting the examination. Contrarily, the participating students also recognized numerous hurdles in implementing e-exams concerning security, validity, and impartiality. The conclusion further revealed that online examination is especially relevant for formative assessment of learning instead of summative assessment, provided authenticity, security, and flexibility are used as fundamental tenants in the proper implementation of e-exams. The outcome of the present study will facilitate higher education institutions and policymakers in taking the electronic examination system to the next level.

Highlights

  • In today’s era of digitalization, the term information and communication technology (ICT) has expanded to encompass many aspects of computing technology and is more recognizable than ever before

  • To investigate learners’ perception concerning the advantages of the online examination system towards the methods and practices of teaching, their authenticity and reliability, their practicality, the affective factors, and the security; To identify all the necessary considerations required for the successful implementation of the online examination system in higher education institutions

  • This section exhibits the results and findings of the research. It constitutes the demographic profile of the sample respondents, along with the device(s) that students utilize for giving the examination, their views towards the process, the needful considerations for the successful implementation of the online examination system, and the various problems and challenges encountered by the students/learners while appearing in e-exams

Read more

Summary

Introduction

In today’s era of digitalization, the term information and communication technology (ICT) has expanded to encompass many aspects of computing technology and is more recognizable than ever before. E-exam refers to a computerized exam through which the student uses a computer for taking his/her exam. It serves as an effective, unbiased, and exciting method for assessing students’ academic level. The aforesaid table presents the demographic information on the participants classified on the basis of their gender, age group, course of study, level of study, and the institution where they were studying. It revealed that most of the sample respondents (61.4%) were females, whereas 38.6% were males. The above data indicate that most of the students (49.8%) belonged to the age group of up to years, 19.3% were aged between and

Objectives
Methods
Results
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call