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Delivering assessment through iPads: Initial reflection on feasibility

Mark Hamilton, Laura Mongan, Terese Bird, Sarah Bulman, Alex Thornber & Robert Norman

ASME Scientific Meeting July 2015 Edinburgh

Opportunities• Next step of maximising

effectiveness of iPad-as-digital-platform

• More interactive assessments• Improved feedback experience

(NSS scores)

Pilot

• 2x written formative assessments • Mixture of SBAs & SAQs• Formative 1 (n=214) formative 2 (n=171)

• Lecture theatre venue

• Follow-up survey (n=105)

Resources

• ExamSoft software– $50 per student/yr

• Students own devices (iPad 4th gen)

• Time for staff/student training

Strengths

• Easy to set up an exam

• All students completed the exams (using an iPad)

• Worked well in confined space with no wifi

• Detailed exam analytics + rationale given to students

Weaknesses • Occasional glitches in software

• Around 2-3% required help

• Needed alternative iPad

• Some reports of questions ‘freezing’

• Delay in exam upload

“Guided Access, triple-

click…”

Student feedback

……an end to the fairy tale?

I found the user interface of the SofTestM app during the exam to be easy to use.

Overall, compared to paper-based exams, how did you find the process of taking the exam on the iPad?

I am comfortable with the prospect of taking end of semester assessments via iPad in the future.

Feasibility

• Cost is acceptable

• Digital platform already exists

• Relatively few practical problems/user friendly

• Provides lots of exam data

Feasibility

• Winning hearts and minds

• User experience predominantly and

generously negative!• General concerns over e-assessment

What now?

• Hope to use ExamSoft in a regular formative fashion• Present student feedback back to students

• What else can we learn from this?• Student ownership

• Revisit summative assessments in future