Introduction

Online assessments can be convenient means for measuring student achievement, especially for courses involving large cohorts of students. Moreover, the convenience of access is expected to attract student participation and increase student engagement in the course. Here, we analyzed the student behavior in the online assessment of a Foundation Pathology course across three years.

Methods

Using a learning management system (Blackboard) we tracked student responses and made adjustments to the online assessment.

Results

Initially, the online assessment aimed to test the students' understanding of the materials already covered in the lecture and prompt them to prepare for the upcoming lecture. In the first year, students were working according to schedule in the beginning of the course. However, in later weeks, students were found to be attempting the quizzes at the last minute and many of them finished in a very short time (less than 3 minutes). It was discovered that students were sharing their answers via the phone and other social media. In the second year, we randomized the questions/ answers and also showed only one question at a time. Interestingly, even more students completed the quizzes at the last minute, using shorter thim and achieving higher grades. More intriguingly, students' performances in quizzes did not correlate twieh their performance in the final examination. This observation suggests that significant changes in the assessment design are necessary to achieve the goal of enhancing student learning. In the third year, we used the assessment as a timely checking of the students' learning progress in mastering the intended learning outcomes. A larger question bank increased test variation and the duration fo quiz availability was shortened to minimize the sharing of questions and answers. To our surprise, some students worked on the quizzes together in the library, helping one another to achieve higher grades.

Discussion

Our observation of student behavior has led us to rethink: (1) How can online assessment be designed to support the intended learning outcomes? (2) Should collaboration be allowed in online assessment? (3) How can teaching with technology further enhance learning?