Online Assessment: A Pre-Launching Survey About On Screen Marking by National Examining Body at Secondary Level in Pakistan

Abstract

The reliability of marking is directly linked with a degree of consistency of the examiner to carry out a fair, accurate and logical assessment. The examining bodies like boards and universities of Pakistan are trying to revamp reliable assessment process. In the digital era, on- screen marking facilitates many advantages as compared to traditional marking method, but there is need to learn the effect of assessment in the domain of new medium and marker attitude on screen and on paper marking. In this paper a Pre-Launching Survey about On Screen Marking by National Examining Body at Secondary Level in Pakistan was conducted. The objective of this study was to find the perception of examiners about on-screen marking. An online survey was conducted in which 176 science teachers provided their opinion. The findings revealed that a great difference appeared for computer proficiency w.r.t province, profession, teaching level, subject and locality. Participants believed that on-screen marking caused fatigue for eyes. Participants also did not prefer on-screen marking as they thought that a lot of training is required. Most of the participants did not have experience of on-screen marking. Participants believed that on-screen marking caused fatigue for eyes. Participants also did not prefer onscreen marking as they thought that a lot of training is required. It is concluded that participants find it hard to make the transition from paper-based marking to online marking with exam timelines to contend with. In the absence of proper training sessions, examiners would not be able to understand the rubrics and application of on-screen assessment.