Why do we need a CBTF?

Traditionally, instructors use a variety of assessment modes in their courses to provide students with feedback on their progress. Labs reports, assignments, worksheets, quizzes, midterms, tests, and exams are all just examples of assessments. Regardless of the assessment type, all of them aim to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their learning, and for the teaching team to provide feedback while the learning is happening. Even exams are opportunities for students to learn and grow their knowledge and understanding - the learning doesn’t ever have to stop! Adopting this philosophy is a bit of a paradigm shift and requires a rethink of how courses are structured. For example, if exams are just opportunities for students to get feedback and grow, shouldn’t students do more exams, more frequently? Yes, absolutely! In fact, that’s what education researchers have found is better for learning (ref:).

Schematic of the frequent testing model. The top half of the schematic shows two midterms, each worth 15% distributed over a 13-week term. The bottom half of the schematic shows an alternate model with 5 frequent tests distributed over the term, each worth 6%.

Unfortunately, wanting to do more tests does not actually solve the logistical nightmare that is actually administering more tests. Traditional pen and paper exams are extremely inefficient - starting from writing the exam questions (ironically, usually on a computer), proofreading them, testing them with TAs, printing them, photocopying them, transporting them, handing them out, collecting them back from students, sorting them, grading them, recording grades in a spreadsheet, and finally returning them back to students. Administering pen and paper exams is truly exhausting, especially in large classes. This is not even considering the environmental impact of paper exams!

Digital assessments probably sound amazing given the challenges outlined above. However, digital assessments come with their own set of challenges. For example, equity considerations with expecting students to bring in their own laptops, booking rooms with enough wall plugs for charging, network stability, a host of academic integrity concerns, and coordinating times when hundreds of students are available to simultaneously write the exam.

Through the use of a reservation and test management software called PrairieTest, dedicated physical rooms with computers configured to only permit access to allowed materials, trained invigilators, and a growing community of faculty, staff, and students, we believe many of the challenges associated with digital assessments can be overcome.