How to Design LMS Based Online Examinations in Asynchronous Mode

In medical universities and engineering universities during the 1980s-90s when cheating and copying culture was rampant, faculty members primarily used to rely on viva examinations for awarding final grades. Vivas and presentations even today during on-site classes are preferred for MS thesis, PhD Thesis, capstone projects, final year projects, clinical, lab practicals, and senior design projects at all the universities. For these assessments, viva/presentations are considered to be more effective for grading the students' learning. Students typically submit written reports or progress. For assessors and evaluators, it is more important to understand the extent to which students have digested the contents of the report or their practical experience. The content of assignments and online submissions is only an indicator from which the teacher needs to ascertain what the student actually knows and understands. Vivas and project displays during exhibitions are more effective in determining their depth of understanding. Even in our interviews for admission and employment, we find people with impressive testimonials and CVs. However, their worth and depth is easily revealed in a few minutes of questioning through viva-like interviews.

This post focuses on self-paced, deep learning experience 

Using Rubrics to Manage Anxiety Created by LMS Based Online Assignments

Open ended assignments such as case studies, project reports, real life problems that are open book and are take-home types often lead to a mismatch of expectations of the students with that of the faculty members. This mismatch can make students work on Final Assignments for even 10-15 hours, not knowing whether they have met the expectations or not. This often creates anxiety. The tool for clearly defining your expectations is known as a "Rubric":

"Rubrics are both assessment tools for faculty and learning tools for students that can ease anxiety about the grading process for both parties. Rubrics lay out specific criteria and performance expectations for an assignment.
They help students and instructors stay focused on those expectations and to be more
confident in their work as a result." Creating and Using Rubrics )

How much time does it take to write an Exam in the LMS Based Online Exam Taken in Asynchronous Mode

How much time does it take to write a 3-hour exam in an LMS Based Online Taken in Asynchronous Mode?

My expectation from faculty members is that their question needs to be a 3-hour exam, the "estimated" writing time for the answers should be 3 hours. The exam paper is typically loaded on LMS as an assignment or some other activity. It should be visible to students on the stipulated time and date and with a clear specification of the end time-date. The duration doesn't have to be exactly 3-hours. It needs to be much more as the exam is being offered in an asynchronous mode because of connectivity issues, power breakdowns and technology issues. Depending upon the severity of such issues, the time period can be extended to half a day, full day or even few days as per the university's policy and particular geographical spacing of the students. This is what HEC is grappling with in designing a policy governing big universities whose students hail from poor demographics and far flung areas where there is only 2G or even no internet.

Assumptions of Conventional Exam vs Assumptions of LMS Based Online Exam

What are the underlying assumptions and presuppositions of conventional examinations and how do they differ from their counterpart assumptions and presuppositions of the LMS based Online Exams especially those conducted in asynchronous mode. The differences are explained below:

Why There are so Many Assignments on the LMS

A reply sent to the student who was complaining about excessive assignments. 

An assignment in each session is typically given by a faculty member for the benefit of students. Assignments provide opportunity to students to get their attendance for a class session because students can not be "forced" to "attend" the "synchronous" class session on zoom/Meet/Teams because of the "connectivity issues" (internet, power, equipment issues).

Furthermore, teachers expect that students come to the class session prepared with assigned course material for that student as given in the outline. Evaluation of class participation in physical classrooms typically points out those students to the teacher who are coming to the class prepared. As a "synchronous" class session attendance of students can not be guaranteed, therefore the assignment provides the students with the opportunity to impress their class teacher about their preparation and that they are engaged and connected during a class.

Understanding the Four Critical Stages of LMS Technology Assimilation- A Case Study of a Pakistani University

At IoBM, we crashed into the use of LMS at a breakneck speed. However, our assimilation of LMS (Learning Management System) which is just another technology is following the well known critical stages of assimilation of technology [1]. We had started our implementation in Fall 2019 and by the time the lockdown happened we had around 50 faculty members who were using the LMS. However, the lockdown propelled us into cramping the 2-3 year roll out of the LMS implementation project into a 5 day roller coaster crash implementation. The adoption of technology happened vigorously and soon everyone was using Zoom and LMS. However, the stage of rapid growth appears to be barging into a saturation stage where the initial euphoria of early adopters and vigorous users of technology is transiting into a stage of fatigue and disillusionment. I can see many vigorous early adopters facing this. This post describes these stages in detail, and how to use this in your LMS dissemination strategy.  Individual emergencies and issues that were dealt with in going from 70 sections using LMS to 500 sections using LMS in 15 days, and adding another 430 sections in the next ten days. These will be part of another case study. This post is written for our faculty who are already aware with the happenings of the issues at IoBM, their resolution and the future plan of action.

The assimilation of technology is often described by a technology assimilation curve or the "S-Curve" which is also known as the Sigmoid Curve. See Figure 1 :

Learning S-Curve: Learning going from Growth to Maturity Phase. Adapted from [2]