Βασικές λειτουργίες της εξέτασης με ανοικτά βιβλία στο πανεπιστημιακό επίπεδο

Περίληψη

The study had a two-fold purpose; on the one hand, to identify the major functions of the open-book examination and, on the other hand, to examine whether those functions vary by student's anxiety level during the exam and expected graduation grade. All students who participated in an introductory course on education (N = 109) became the subjects of the study. The study was an ex post facto research design, utilizing a questionnaire. The major functions of the open-book examination were identified by factor analyzing 18 statements, using a principal components analysis with varimax rotation. The analysis yielded five factors accounting for 66,0 percent of the variance. Based on the factor loadings, the following functions were identified: retention of learning and transfer of knowledge, creative use of the knowledge gained, student self-evaluation and feedback, application of higher order thinking and reduction of the examination stress. When scale mean scores were computed for each of the five factors, it appeared that the mean values for the first four functions ranged between 3,67 and 4,15 on a 1-5 interval scale, whereas for the fifth factor the mean scale score was 3,10. Scale alpha reliability coefficients for the five factors ranged between 0,84 and 0,69. A t-test for independent samples indicated that student anxiety level and expected graduation grade did not differentiate in any way the five functions idendified.