Online Testing

VARIED ASSESSMENTS YIELD GREATER SUCCESS

Article by Madeline Peckham Graphic by Henry Van Voorhis

With COVID-19 dividing classrooms between in-person and remote students, testing has had to undergo significant changes. Many teachers have implemented new measures specifically designed to curb cheating, such as using lockdown browsers. But, in many cases they are ineffective and have proven to do more harm than good. If there were a wider variety of evaluative assignments--like projects, presentations, or posters--it would help alleviate some of the added pressures of online testing, reducing stress and raising grades altogether.

While some teachers are more rigid with online test-taking rules, requiring cameras always being on and desk space being visible, other teachers are taking more of an honor-system approach.

“I’m in AP Chem, and each test has been kind of different so far,” junior Isha Shukla explained, “For the first test, my teacher sent it out the night before and asked us not to open it. However, not many abided by that request. Now, they just send it out a few minutes before.”

Teachers want to trust their students, but unfortunately, many have taken advantage of that trust in the past. With added challenges for teachers to prevent academic dishonesty, testing has become a more challenging process.

“The hardest thing is maintaining the integrity of the tests,” social science teacher Robin Grenz said. “Assessments are supposed to be a measuring tool for teachers and students.”

When students don’t take tests as honestly as they’re supposed to, it creates an obstacle with this process. Teachers can’t tell if their lesson was successful or not, and students are lulled into a false sense of security when they do well on the test. Neither teacher nor students know what they actually understand. This makes the semester exam that much harder, because the amalgamation of knowledge from the entire semester is already compromised. With all of the added ways teachers are trying to make sure students honestly complete assessments, it can add stress for students.

There’s even measures that have some unintended consequences. If a student is taking a Canvas quiz, it monitors when you switch tabs and for how long. A remote student may be checking the Google Meet or an approved resource, but be flagged as cheating without any way to prove their innocence.

All of these measures could be doing more harm than good. When it comes to remote students and testing, there will be no fool-proof way to prove that they aren’t cheating. For the honest students, it only adds more stress to an already stressful process.

Maybe testing should be used less often where possible, and teachers should try to favor variety by using projects.

“A well-developed project is good for practicing and showing skills,” Grenz said.

These projects, while not every class can use them, can allow for students to not only learn, but show what they know creatively. Students can take creative liberty by using intriguing visuals, presenting the material in a new way, or just having fun with it. Projects can reduce the risk of mistakes on account of test anxiety, but can altogether improve the student’s learning process with reduced pressure.

By taking advantage of using projects or other creative processes instead of tests, teachers can give students more opportunities to show what they have learned with a reduced risk of cheating. These small changes can make a big impact on students

Ultimately, teachers want to know how their students are doing. This can be done through assessments other than tests, which can allow for an altogether different experience in the classroom and a better learning process for many students.

“I want to encourage students to embrace the testing process as a time to demonstrate learning,” Grenz said.