A more meaningful test?

I read the article "MISSES: Web-Based Examination, Evaluation, and Guidance," written by Zuhal Tanrikulu. (MISSES- Management Information Systems) The authors identifies the objective as an equalization of classroom information. the author writes, "Students should be able to access the system from anywhere and at anytime, and instructors should be able to upload course documents, handouts, exams, class notes, and questions without constraints." (p. 148) This concepts fits into the ideas of Social Justice. This allows for all students to walk to the library and get that extra study time, e-mail that extra question to the teacher that they were embarassed to ask in class.

The author lists the goals as:

"1. Making classrooms more geographically and demograohically available.
2. Providing a mechanism for distribution of the courses over the internet
3. Accessing all the MIS courses at the students' request
4. Converting all types of classical exams to electronic types in a short period
5. Increasing the students' knowledge of the course material." (p.148)

This is concluded as a unique system because of its testing style. The requirement of a pool of questions, and then after the students takes the test, they are shown the content material they need to study further. This provides a more comprehensive grade for the student so they not only get a letter, but then begin to understand their weaknesses. This task is not easy for an educator to do alone when they hav five class periods with 20-35 students in each class.

It is the way to avoid the ambiguity of the letter grade by providing additional assistance for students. The authors writes that this could be an important tool, however accessability and user friendliness are key. If these MISSES programs are to be used successfully, they must be easy for the student and the teacher to use.

Could this be the solution to the short-comings of the letter grade, a common debate in educational philosophy today?


Tanrikulu, Zuhal, "MISSES:Web-Based Examination, Evaluation, and Guidance," Computers in Education, Annual Editions, 12th ed, 2007, McGraw Hill.