Along with teaching, testing what has been taught and grading students’ work is part of the responsibilities
of university teachers. An exam is a sample of what the students know or have learned in the respective course.
Examinations can help one can judge whether or how well the learning objectives have been accomplished.
As a rule, in order to be admitted to an examination, one must register -
the registration being binding. What is necessary to know for taking and passing final examinations can be found in the official guide lines and regulations for examinations.
Current Trends in Germany:
- Reforms in Europe with respect to the Bologna guidelines –the modular design among others – have led to considerably more exams per semester have to be taken often having a large number of participants.
- Accompanying this trend, there is a tendency to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digital media especially by
Web 2.0
- tools for open examinations – e.g. cooperation work on assignments (such as in
Wikis) or for tracking and reflecting on one’s own learning process (with
E-Portfolios) - and by doing so, to do justice to the increasingly more open forms of teaching and learning.
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- In Germany, ever since the admission of students has become increasingly the responsibility of the individual universities, more and more universities offer an entrance examination that should help with selecting eligible students.
Studies that are jointly offered at different universities (national, international) or also further education studies require more flexibility in the examination process; here it is sometimes difficult for students to be able to travel for the examinations.
Organization
Regulations
for giving and taking examinations can be found in the guidelines for each academic field of study.
Here the different procedures are laid down regulating, for example, announcement of, registration for, and admission to the exams.
It is important that all participants take the exams under the same conditions.
Preparation
Already when
preparing examinations,
teachers can implement various digital media.
Technology
The
technical requirements
for virtual examinations differ significantly according to the conceptual design of the exam and the various types of hardware and software.
Correction Work
The effort needed for
correcting
an exam depends on the type of examination, differences being between oral and written exams and between formally structured ones and those more open.
E-Assessment
At present there are many terms that are used for digital assessment not necessarily meaning the same thing. The term
E-Assessment
is therefore used here as a general term for all types of examinations for which digital media is used – from online tests to e-portfolios to webquests.
Which type of examination in a computer-based scenario makes the most sense should depend on the relevant contents of the examination.
