J.M. Meseguer-Dueñas

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF AUTO-SCORED ONLINE EXAMS IN BLENDED ASSESSMENT: FEEDBACK FOR IMPROVEMENT

Development of the information and communication technologies has led to an increase in the use of Computer Based Assessment (CBA) in higher education. In the last decade, there has been a discussion on online versus traditional pen-and-paper exams. The aim of this study was to verify whether students have reserves about auto-scored online exams, and if that is the case, to determine the reasons. The study was performed in the context of a blended assessment in which 1200 students were enrolled on a first-year physics university course. Among them, 463 answered an anonymous survey, supplemented by information obtained from an open-ended question and from interviews with students. Three factors (labelled ‘F1-Learning,’ ‘F2- Use of Tool,’ and ‘F3-Assessment’) emerged from the quantitative analysis of the survey, and an additive scale was established. We found significant differences in the ‘F3-Assessment’ factor compared to the other two factors, indicating a lower acceptance of the tool for student assessment. It seems that even though students are used to computers, they have a lack of confidence in online exams. We carried out an in-depth survey on this topic in the form of an open-ended question and by interviewing a small group of 11 students to confer strength and nuance to the quantitative results of the survey. Although their comments were positive in general, especially on ease-of-use and on its usefulness in indicating the level achieved during the learning process, there was also some criticism of the clarity of questions and the strictness of the marking system. These two factors, among others, could have been the cause of the worse perception of F3-Assessment and the origin of the students’ reluctance towards online exams and automatic scoring.Development of the information and communication technologies has led to an increase in the use of Computer Based Assessment (CBA) in higher education. In the last decade, there has been a discussion on online versus traditional pen-and-paper exams. The aim of this study was to verify whether students have reserves about auto-scored online exams, and if that is the case, to determine the reasons. The study was performed in the context of a blended assessment in which 1200 students were enrolled on a first-year physics university course. Among them, 463 answered an anonymous survey, supplemented by information obtained from an open-ended question and from interviews with students. Three factors (labelled ‘F1-Learning,’ ‘F2- Use of Tool,’ and ‘F3-Assessment’) emerged from the quantitative analysis of the survey, and an additive scale was established. We found significant differences in the ‘F3-Assessment’ factor compared to the other two factors, indicating a lower acceptance of the tool for student assessment. It seems that even though students are used to computers, they have a lack of confidence in online exams. We carried out an in-depth survey on this topic in the form of an open-ended question and by interviewing a small group of 11 students to confer strength and nuance to the quantitative results of the survey. Although their comments were positive in general, especially on ease-of-use and on its usefulness in indicating the level achieved during the learning process, there was also some criticism of the clarity of questions and the strictness of the marking system. These two factors, among others, could have been the cause of the worse perception of F3-Assessment and the origin of the students’ reluctance towards online exams and automatic scoring.

Valoración del alumnado sobre distintos formatos de vídeos utilizados en docencia inversa en prácticas de laboratorio.

Los autores agradecen al Instituto de Ciencias de la Educacion de la universitat Politecnica de Valencia su apoyo al grupo de Innovacion e-MACAFI y al Proyecto PIME/2016/A/017.

Percepción de los estudiantes sobre la utilización de screencast en la enseñanza de la física

En los ultimos anos, screencast se ha utilizado ampliamente como herramienta de ensenanza en diferentes areas. Un screencast es un video corto obtenido a partir de la captura de la pantalla del ordenador acompanada de la narracion de un profesor. Este trabajo explora la opinion de los estudiantes de primer curso de Universidad en relacion con los beneficios que el uso de screencast aporta a la mejora del aprendizaje de la fisica, con el uso que los estudiantes hacen del screencast, y tambien por que deciden usarlo o no. Se han preparado y subido a la plataforma, varios screencasts en los que se tratan aspectos clave de la fisica en los que es sabido que los estudiantes encuentran dificultades. Sakai/PoliformaT es una plataforma de aprendizaje desarrollada en la Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV, www.upv.es/index-en.htm), a traves del proyecto Sakai (https://sakaiproject.org). En promedio, cada screencast fue visionado mas de 100 veces, por estudiantes de un grupo de fisica de 117 alumnos. Trabajos previos sugieren que screencast es percibido por los alumnos como beneficioso y concluyen que se obtienen mejoras en el aprendizaje. Para verificar esta percepcion, se realizo una encuesta anonima que constaba de 10 preguntas de respuesta multiple y una pregunta abierta. Se analizo la relacion entre el uso de los screencast y la percepcion de los estudiantes de haber obtenido beneficios en cuanto a una mejor comprension de la materia tratada. Tambien se analizo la relacion entre el uso de screencast y la nota en preguntas relacionadas de un examen. Los resultados indican que la mayoria de los estudiantes opinan que los screencast son utiles para su aprendizaje ayudandoles a comprender conceptos relevantes y mejorando asi sus resultados.