Open-book-based Assessment during COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities

Moza Al Malki, Sharifa Al’Adawi, Nagham Al-Azzawi, Khalid Al-Abri

Abstract


Open-book examinations (OBEs) are one of the assessment practices that have become a recommended practice at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences – Al Rustaq (UTAS-Rustaq, Oman) as a result of COVID-19. Views of effective assessment practices and students’ intake of them have been an ongoing discussion in education while students’ engagement and the place of higher-order thinking skills in assessment have been revisited over the decades. This exploratory study investigates the affordances and challenges of the use of OBEs from students’ and teachers’ perceptions at UTAS-Rustaq, Oman. It aims to address the following research questions: (a) What is the participants’ definition of OBEs? (b) What are the benefits and challenges of OBEs from students’ and teachers’ perspectives?  (c) How can OBEs be used effectively in the future? To achieve the aim, the views of 93 students and 23 teachers in the various majors at UTAS - Rustaq, including English, Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry, were investigated by means of  questionnaires and interviews. The findings indicated that teachers and students had a shared understanding of the characteristics of OBEs and highlighted some factors such as the use of resources that can promote or hinder the effective implementation of OBEs. The findings of this study have the potential to inform the college stakeholders to raise awareness of, provide training in, and gradually implement OBEs.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.22.8.9


Keywords


open-book examination; online assessment; learning; education; digital transformation

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