University students perceptions on the effectiveness of open-ended And problem solving questions in online exams in Tanzania

Abstract

Studies propose the inclusion of open-ended (OE) and problem solving (PS) questions in online exams so as to improve effectiveness in assessing students’ academic progress. However there is lack of research on perceptions of students on the effectiveness of OE and PS in online exams. This study was thus set out to investigate perceptions of university students on effectiveness of online exams with OE and PS questions. The study involved 60 students from the Moshi University College of Cooperative and Business Studies (MUCCoBS) and adopted the cross-sectional research design. Data collection instruments were questionnaires, interviews and review of existing documents. Study findings established that there is no formal online exam system implemented in the study area. However the study revealed an urgent need for online exams. This was so because the study area is experiencing increasing enrollment students as years go by. Such an increase is not proportional to the increase in number of academic staff, among other academicresources hence handling of exams (paper based), particularly invigilation and marking, is increasingly becoming difficult. Furthermore, although students demonstrated an understanding to online exams they declared a negative feeling towards implementation of OE and PS questions. Major reasons including ICT illiteracy among many students, unavailability of appropriate technologies required for attempting such kind of questions, generally poor ICT infrastructure, and the likely absence of fairness if such kind of questions will be marked electronically. The study recommends that online exams especially those used in universities should contain both types of questions, there must be stakeholders’ awareness creation on the importance of online exams consisting of both objective and subjective types of questions, and ICT infrastructure in higher learning institutions must be improved, among others.