Using electronic exams to provide engineering mathematics students with rapid feedback

Henderson, Karen; Gwynllyw, Rhys; Hooper, Alison

Abstract

With increased sophistication and capabilities of e-Assessment systems it would seem that online examinations will become standard practice, particularly for numerate subjects, in the near future. We have gained valuable experience in this area through running online mathematics examinations for over 300 engineering students in January 2015 and January 2016. We used the fully algorithmic open-source Dewis e-Assessment system to run the online examinations. One of the major advantages to running exams in this way, as opposed to running a traditional paper-based exercise, is that students are able to receive rapid feedback on their work, because their submissions are marked immediately. It also enables academics to quickly identify those students that are at risk on the module, enabling them to specifically target such students early on in the year, at a point where interventions are likely to yield positive results. We have seen improvements in module pass rates since introducing the online exam.

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 28, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 105-111
• Book Title: The 18th SEFI Mathematics Working Group Seminar on Mathematics in Engineering Education Proceedings
• ISBN: 9782873520137
• Keywords: electronic exams, engineering mathematics, DEWIS, feedback
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/919631
• Publisher URL: http://www.math.chalmers.se/SEFIMWG2016/Proceedings_SEFIMWG2016.pdf
• Contract Date: Jul 28, 2016