Mechanised Assessments that

Promote Deep Learning…and prevent plagiarism!!

Gareth Denyer

Dale Hancock

Jill Johnston

School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences

Mechanised Assessments

• Multiple choice, “single best answer”, true/false

• Rapid, convenient– Excellent for large classes

• BUT…. Can encourage surface learning (?)– Questions often test unambiguous ‘surface detail’

• Especially in unskilled hands– Student PERCEPTION

• adopt a ‘rote’ approach• Names, facts, numbers

• Attempts at deeper, conceptual based possible…– BUT… often lead to ambiguous questions– At worst, questions favour less able students

because better students confused!• VERY SKILFUL JOB!!!

Marking MCQs

• “All or Nothing”– No credit for near misses– No credit for process– No point in leaving answers ‘blank’– Guessing can give 20%

• Negative marking?• Intimidates students• Forces meticulous non-ambiguity

– Further driving surface learning

• Post-Exam revision of mark scheme difficult– Little chance of pro-active adjustment in light of

performance statistics• Unlike SAQs where mark scheme can be changed

– Ambiguous questions often discarded• Disadvantages good students

Graded Alternative

What is the capital of Australia?A Melbourne

B Sydney

C Atlanta

D Canberra

E Auckland

– NB. This is a SURFACE example!!

– The more complex the question, the more important partial marks become.

Examples

• Calculation questions– Multi-step

– Give credit for answers that show correct partial process

• “What if” and extrapolations

XL Based Graded Solution

Typical student answer grid

Key Sheet

Marks

Advantages

• Makes marking flexible– Like an SAQ!– Post-hoc changes possible– No confusion in exams– Scaling ‘fairer’… hmmm….

• Staff less stressed– More extrapolative questions– Less attention to rigorous ‘fact’– Less concern about ‘getting it perfect’– Each option “useful”

• Students divided– Favours better students

Plagiarism!

• Hard in SAQs

• So easy in MCQs– Hand signals

– Pattern recognition

• Several cases – In literature

– In personal experience• FRUSTRATING

• Burden of “Proof” & lack of support from institution

Anti-Plagiarism Variation

Anti-Plagiarism Solution

• =VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table of values, column index numbers) (eg, C, A3 to E7, 2)

• Easier in a relational database… but that’s not the point!

• Rotation in Word

• No “all of the above/none of the above” questions!

• Database allows generation of random orders

Exam Placement

With just FOUR versions

Never identical paper around

Invigilator assistance!!!

We don’t tell the students.

Implementation

• Sweet Justice!!– Sometimes even the ‘check’

questions copied

– Lots of ‘evidence’• But such is the natural justice we often

don’t take it further!

• But to ‘tell’ or not to tell!!– Casual or ‘reassurance’ cheating

• Builds confidence in the process

Developments

• DIY scanner– Freedom from the constraints of

FIVE options

– Free-form grids

• Student designed MCQs

• Modified essay questions

Have a go! Easy and Liberating!