Not that easy
ostCOVID, new methods of teaching and learning have opened up in India. Online education using appropriate technology has come to stay, though there are operational challenges with regard to mindsets of teachers and students and the preparedness in terms of resources, systems and technology. While changes and reforms being made in the teachinglearning process, efforts are also being made to facilitate learning through designing and implementing suitable assessments.
One such method that institutions and educators are exploring is openbook assessment in the conviction that it will be stressfree and serve the purpose of testing critical thinking and application. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), in its Examination Reform Policy of November 2018, advocated for the adoption of openbook exams in higher education institutions (HEIs) to test higher order thinking skills such as application, analysis, and evaluation, as indicated in Bloom’s Taxonomy, and eventually help students improve their creative ability and innovative skills while learning.
PContext and relevance
Openbook exam is a wellproven procedure that evokes learning most constructively, and allows students to use multiple resources to achieve the desired level of proficiency at a reduced level of stress and anxiety. This inculcates ownership of learning and eventually promotes students’ thinking rather than memorising. Furthermore, it provides increased opportunities for selfawareness and selfevaluation, and prepares students for life by facilitating practice opportunities where all cognitive domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy can be integrated into problemsolving similar to those encountered in real situations.
But it is essential that both teachers and students understand what an openbook assessment entails. Here, the questions are framed so that the students cannot simply refer to their study material and pick out answers. Instead, they are required to process the available information, interpret and draw inferences, and write their responses based on their understanding of the concepts.
This cannot be achieved on the spot but requires thorough preparation over time. Students have to work hard and prepare in such a way that they not only develop a thorough understanding of the concepts but can also critically analyse it and apply the learning in a different context.
Challenges
Orienting, training, and preparing teachers for the conduct of openbook examinations are a challenge for HEIs. Designing the question paper can be difficult and time consuming as questions need to assess the skills of inferring ideas, application of knowledge, and comprehension and critical thinking skills. This requires a mindset change to make the procedure effective.
Teachers should know that an openbook examination works better when answers cannot be readily extracted from materials, text, and reference books