Open book assessment

Introduction

During the COVID-19 pandemic, and during the closure of universities, we looked for suitable methods of distance assessment in all subjects implemented in the training of future teachers. Most subjects are practically oriented, and assume that there will be a reflection on specific didactic situations. The pandemic caused many problems in the training of future teachers, especially in their pedagogical practice, which is implemented directly in schools, but changes in the implementation of teaching and in the method of evaluation had to occur in virtually all subjects.

Action taken

In the “Technology enhanced learning” course, realized at the Faculty of Education of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, the final exam was realized before 2020, so that the student worked independently for 90 minutes on the preparation of the methodological sheet. In the methodological sheet, they worked on the basis of the assignment of the practical topic, the target group, and the designated technical equipment, in order to describe the activity using technologies for implementation in primary schools. After the presentation and defence of the chosen activity within the colloquium of students and two teachers who participate in the teaching of the subject, a theoretically focused oral exam followed. At the time of the pandemic, we decided to conduct the entire test in a remote manner, using Google Meet video conferencing, and work with a template of method sheets placed in the shared space of the university’s Google disk.

The testing process

The students were informed that the exam would be conducted in the form of an open book, so that throughout the exam, they could have their notes, portfolio, books, and other resources, as well as access to the Internet. At the beginning of the exam, the teacher gave everyone a common topic, and the specific technical equipment that could be taken into account when planning activities for primary school students. The teacher made available to individual students a template of the methodological sheet, provided with their name, and on which they had to supplement this information in a shared environment:

Good practices

Over the course of 90 minutes, the teachers were able to follow the students’ work on the method sheet in Google Drive. Students were told that they could turn off their Google Meet video camera if they wanted to, and that they could work quietly, without constant supervision. At the same time, they were asked to keep Google Meet and sound turned on for any teacher questions. In the event that the teacher experienced any major problems during the online work, and they needed to direct the student in a slightly different direction, or they needed to adjust the framework of the activity so that the student did not unnecessarily elaborate an inappropriate activity, they could contact the students either via audio commentary within Google Meet, or via comments directly entered into the methodological sheet. At the end of the 90 minutes, the individual student presented their work in such a way that they were present for the other students’ exams. The discussion on the individual prepared activities therefore had not only an evaluative character, but also an added value, from a didactic point of view. During the discussion, we worked not only with the evaluation of the activity by the teacher, but also with the students’ self-evaluations and mutual evaluations of the students. We carried out a mutual evaluation of the student in such a way that the individual student present provided brief feedback on the proposed activity to the student immediately after his/her presentation in the chat.

The theoretical examination, which follows the first, practical part, took place individually - in the form of an interview with the student about three topics, which the student drew from the pre-given topics.