Vox Pop: Should CBT be Extended to all Levels?

Home NEWS CAMPUS NEWSCAMPUS Vox Pop: Should CBT be Extended to all Levels? By ucjfuoye - April 30, 201906 By Helena Idiovo Computer Based Test (commonly called CBT) simply refers to tests and assessments conducted through the use of the organized systems on computers and it automates tasks which are very time consuming such as marking of scripts and monitoring progress. CBT is now being used in Federal University Oye-Ekiti for core departmental courses, most especially for first year students. This trend started in the year 2015 with the course titled “Introduction to Sociology” which was then offered by fresh students in all departments in Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to this however, the CBT has and is still being used in writing all General Studies Examinations. After sampling the opinions of some students on campus, this is what they have to say on whether Computer Based Test should be extended to all levels: A student identified as Damola Olamide, a 200level student of Mathematics said “no! As a student of Maths department, it won’t be easy for me to perform my skills effectively”. “I need my solving steps to be appreciated before deriving my final answer. With CBT, I just choose any option without them knowing how I arrived at the answer”, he added. “Even the school has not handled our portal effectively not to talk of us trusting them with our CBT center”, he further said while concluding by saying that we need makers not programmers. Another student identified as Akinlolu Ayomide, a 200level student of Physics department said “I do not support it! In CBT, errors can occur and network can fail. There can be interruption in power supply. The system can shutdown and programmed answers that ought to mark the questions can be shuffled or wiped off. It can be corrupted and scripts won’t be found. I prefer we keep on doing paper and pencil test.” Olaoluwa Ayomide, a 200level student in the department of Banking and Finance however said “I believe it should be extended to all levels. Some students like multiple choices, not all students prefer writing. Some prefer objectives which have various options unlike theory. The exam is programmed under timing that keeps students on their toes in order for them to be accurate and smart in thinking”. He went further by saying that it helps in time management, after all the exam will just be for 40mins. Students still have a whole day to read for other courses. Another student identified as Jeremiah Iseoluwa, a 200level student of Industrial Chemistry said CBT often times may lead to mass failure because the timeframe are relatively smaller, thus students have to answer hastily. He went further to narrate that “during the first semester in my 100level days, I wrote MTH 101. During the CBT exam, I had answered just 25 questions when I had just 5 minutes left, and I had to answer about 40 question. I had no choice but to start picking answers without solving”. “The timing is usually not favourable. We answer questions in haste, and we end up having poor results”, he concluded. Speaking to UCJ FUOYE, Kadiri Busayo, a 300 level student of the department of Sociology said “based on my perspective and views, I feel CBT should be used at all levels. This is thinking from the perspective of lecturers having to mark from 100level to 400level”. “In FUOYE, every year the population of students admitted is high. It’s not just to the advantage of students in that they have multiple choices, it is also for the convenience of lecturers. It is going to make things less stressful for the school, and it would help to avoid delay in marking and collating results”, she added. A 400 level student of Biochemistry identified as Odeleye Joy, however believes “CBT narrows students”. “It doesn’t expose student because there’s a way a student read for multiple choice questions and way for theoretical questions”, she added. “CBT does not allow oneself to be expressed, but theory allows to express oneself.” She noted that “till 200l it is acceptable to write CBT exams because of the issue of marking large population but for higher levels, I think it is better for theory exams. For it is not just your knowledge but also about the way you are able to put it down”. “Going further for masters degree, a student that has been doing CBT all his life might be affected because he won’t know the way to write answer to questions appropriately”. I think CBT should just be restricted to 200level. 300level and 400level should keep writing paper test to widen their knowledge”, she concluded