Project RITE
Recipients
The Impact of Traditional, Performance-Based and Online, Learner-Based Assessments on Student Learning
Download final report: PDF
Katherine Greenberg
Professor, Educational Psychology & Counseling, UT Knoxville
Final Report Abstract
This study examined the effects of in-class and online exams on student
learning through both quantitative and qualitative analysis. In our
quantitative analysis, we investigated the effects of in-class exams and
online, learner-centered exams on undergraduate students' performance on
an in-class comprehensive final (n=141). Six educational psychology
sections were randomly assigned to take one exam in a traditional,
proctored format and two exams online in a learner-centered format. At
the end of the educational psychology course, all sections took a
proctored comprehensive final, consisting of a series of multiple choice
questions closely aligned with questions from the unit exams. The
results of the comprehensive examination were collated and independent
sample t-tests were performed, resulting in no significant differences
between content items initially assessed utilizing the traditional
format and the online, learner-based format at the 0.05 significance
level. In our qualitative analysis, participants in one of the six
course sections (n=22) were selected to participate in open-ended
interviews. A phenomenological method was used to collect and analyze
responses to the question: "When thinking about your experiences with
both the in-class test and Blackboard tests in [course name], what
stands out for you?" Findings from our qualitative analysis resulted in
two separate thematic structures. The shared thematic structure for the
in-class exams contained three themes, while the shared thematic
structure for the online exams resulted in two. The lived experience of
the students led to implications around issues related to teaching and
learning.
