The Place of the Closed Book, Invigilated Final Examination in a Knowledge Economy

Abstract

This paper argues that, in the information age, the closed book, invigilated final examination has become an anachronism. Most significantly, it is an assessment instrument that does not assess deep conceptual understanding and process skills. Indeed, the anecdotal evidence one often hears from students is that ‘cramming’ the night before amounts to ‘data-dumping’ on the day, with little knowledge retention thereafter. The defence of the traditionalists is that we have to have invigilated final examinations or students will cheat. However, as this paper posits, it is possible to structure a summative final assessment item in such a way that the scope for plagiarism/cheating is minimal. This requires a commitment to authentic assessment where real-world problems take centrestage, and the information and communication technologies are harnessed to allow for an element of interaction. In the process, the student is engaged more effectively with the assessment task which, in turn, serves to induce deeper learning.

Keywords: Assessments, Authentic assessment, Learning outcomes, Management education, U21Global