Abstract
Students at the University of Edinburgh do almost all their work on computers, but at the end of the semester they are examined by handwritten essays. Intuitively it would be appealing to allow students the choice of handwriting or typing, but this raises a concern that perhaps this might not be ‘fair’ – that the choice a student makes, to write or to type, will affect their mark. The aim of this study was to identify and explore any systematic differences that may be introduced due to offering students the choice to write or type essay examinations. A class of 70 first-year divinity students were given the option of taking a mock examination, and the further option of handwriting or typing their answer. All the examination scripts were then faithfully transcribed into the opposite format so there was a printed copy and a handwritten copy of every script. These were then marked by four markers, such that every marker marked every script exactly once, in one format or the other. No significant differences could be identified due to the format in which the students had written their answer. Factors explored included length of essay, overall score awarded, and some qualitative measures designed to indicate essay quality. In contrast, the variation between the markers was striking.Keywords: essay; examination; laptop; type; choiceDOI: 10.1080/09687761003657580
Highlights
I depend on a keyboard to write, and frankly that collection of ill-arranged keys has become an extension of my fingers into which I pour my thoughts
Small differences have been found in the mark awarded to an examination script depending on the format of the script but the difference is not significant and is trivial compared with variation between markers
It has been shown that students are able to type more than they can handwrite, but this was not associated with their reported typing speed
Summary
I depend on a keyboard to write, and frankly that collection of ill-arranged keys has become an extension of my fingers into which I pour my thoughts. This research initially aimed to answer some of the questions frequently cited as barriers to offering students the opportunity to type their responses to essay examinations. Questions such as: ‘Is the mark awarded to an examination script influenced by the format of the script (typed or handwritten) rather than its content?’ and ‘Are students who type slowly any more or any less disadvantaged than students who handwrite slowly?’ Data about students reactions and preconceptions to the idea of essay examinations on computer and some initial results from this study have been presented previously (Mogey et al 2008a, 2008b, 2008c). The software ‘locks the computer down’ so the student is unable to access the Internet, the hard disk or read information from an accessory device such as a USB stick or CD-ROM
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