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Today, the hotel industry is increasingly facing dynamic and changing environments that should adapt itself to environmental changes for survival and dynamism. Providing quality services based on competitive intelligence is a fundamental challenge for hotel managers. This study presented a structural model to evaluate competitive intelligence's effect on service delivery quality by explaining the mediating role of open book management in the hotel industry. This applied, and the descriptive-correlational study was conducted on all managers, assistants, and senior staff of three, four, and five-star hotels in East Azerbaijan province, of whom 180 people were selected as the sample size based on Cochran's formula with the proportional distribution. Data measurement tools were Goldstone's competitive intelligence questionnaire, Sajedi's open book management questionnaire, and Parasuraman et al.'s service delivery quality questionnaire. The face validity method and expert confirmation were used to determine the validity of the questionnaires. The internal reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed through Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The statistical description of research variables was performed using mean index and standard deviation. The research hypotheses were analyzed with the Pearson correlation coefficient, bootstrap, and Sobel test using SmartPLS software. The results of the correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship between competitive intelligence and open book management (P < 0.001). A crucial positive relationship was confirmed between open book management and service quality (P < 0.001). The relationship between competitive intelligence and quality of service provision was positive and significant (P < 0.001). The Bootstrap and Sobel test results showed that open book management significantly mediated the relationship between competitive intelligence and quality of service delivery (P < 0.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physicians of the future will be expected to synthesize new knowledge and appropriately apply it in patient care. Here, we report on the effects of and student attitudes towards resource-enhanced exams by comparing student performance on closed-book exams with or without access to pharmacology flashcards. Setting: the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine (SOM), class of 2021 (N = 149), followed over 4 years. We provided pharmacology flashcards for studying purposes in all blocks; flashcards were only accessible during closed-book exams in 2 of 5 blocks. We collected pharmacology open-ended question (OEQ) scores and analyzed results using repeated measures ANOVA (SPSS). We collected MS4 survey data using Qualtrics and conducted a thematic content analysis. Performance on pharmacology questions on exams was not higher with access to pharmacology flashcards during exams. The number of students who passed pharmacology questions without flashcards on exams was as follows: 137 ± 3.7, 132 ± 5.0, and 134 ± 7.9 (average ± SEM). The number of students who passed pharmacology questions with flashcards on exams was as follows: 132 ± 6.6 and 120 ± 7.5. Survey comments revealed several themes. Access to pharmacology flashcards during exams allowed learners to focus on understanding the bigger picture and reduced stress. A subset of students reported having access to flashcards on pre-clerkship exams hurt their preparation for clerkships. Flashcards as exam resources were received well by approximately half the class, who reported benefits including more time to focus on understanding bigger picture concepts and reduced stress.

Educators set restrictions in examinations to enable them to assess learning outcomes under particular conditions. The open book versus closed book binary is an example of the sorts of restrictions examiners have traditionally set. In the late 2000s this was expanded to a trinary to include open web examinations. However, the current technology environment, particularly for online examinations, makes this trinary not particularly useful. The web now includes generative artificial intelligence tools, and contract cheating sites, both of which are capable of completing examination questions within the examination period. Closed book, open book and open web no longer offers enough clarity or specificity when communicating examination restrictions. This article proposes a new taxonomy of restrictions for examinations, with a particular focus on online examinations. The taxonomy consists of three dimensions: information, people and tools. The paper explores the possible settings for those dimensions. Five criteria are provided to help examination designers in selecting restrictions: the learning outcomes being assessed; the feasibility of restrictions; consequential validity; authenticity; and values. Taken together, this taxonomy and the criteria provide ways of thinking about restrictions in examinations that can prompt educators towards examination designs that are more valid and robust against cheating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing students is a crucial aspect of the educational process, closely tied to the quality of their learning. Employing a onegroup interventional study, we designed and conducted open-book online exams for doctoral students in medical education at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBUMS), focusing on their perspectives regarding open-book online examination. This assessment spanned from April 2019 to August 2022. To gauge student satisfaction, we utilized Patrick's evaluation model, employing a researcher-developed questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability. Additionally, a critique session was conducted for further insights. The analysis of participant satisfaction levels indicates positive feedback and agreement among students regarding the implementation of open-book online examinations. According to the majority of students, this assessment system provided them with valuable and novel experiences. They believed that the online environment stimulated their eagerness to respond to exams, and the ability to access resources enhanced their maneuverability to address all aspects of the questions and designed scenarios. Students expressed concerns during the exam about unforeseen issues typical of online exams, such as power outages, internet interruptions, malfunctioning of exam equipment, etc., potentially hindering their success. The results of this study demonstrate the satisfaction and agreement of doctoral students in medical education with the implementation of open-book online examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the higher education sector, it also provided opportunities for accounting academics to rethink their assessment strategy. This paper adds to the limited literature which has reported on how accounting academics responded to such an opportunity. Drawing on Freire's dialogical education theory as the theoretical underpinning, we provide an autoethnographic account of an academic's experience of championing a dialogical informed assessment. Focusing on assessment, this autoethnographic study contributes to the growing dialogic pedagogy accounting education literature and challenges accounting academics to consider engaging in an open-book portfolio assessment informed by the dialogical education approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Physicians of the future will be expected to synthesize new knowledge and appropriately apply it in patient care. Here, we report on the effects of and student attitudes towards resource‐enhanced exams by comparing student performance on closed‐book exams with or without access to pharmacology flashcards. Setting: the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine (SOM), class of 2021 (N = 149), followed over 4 years. We provided pharmacology flashcards for studying purposes in all blocks; flashcards were only accessible during closed‐book exams in 2 of 5 blocks. We collected pharmacology open‐ended question (OEQ) scores and analyzed results using repeated measures ANOVA (SPSS). We collected MS4 survey data using Qualtrics and conducted a thematic content analysis. Performance on pharmacology questions on exams was not higher with access to pharmacology flashcards during exams. The number of students who passed pharmacology questions without flashcards on exams was as follows: 137 ± 3.7, 132 ± 5.0, and 134 ± 7.9 (average ± SEM). The number of students who passed pharmacology questions with flashcards on exams was as follows: 132 ± 6.6 and 120 ± 7.5. Survey comments revealed several themes. Access to pharmacology flashcards during exams allowed learners to focus on understanding the bigger picture and reduced stress. A subset of students reported having access to flashcards on pre‐clerkship exams hurt their preparation for clerkships. Flashcards as exam resources were received well by approximately half the class, who reported benefits including more time to focus on understanding bigger picture concepts and reduced stress.

Copyright of Educación XX1 is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, law schools in England and Wales hastily moved their learning and teaching and assessments online to ensure that students could continue with their studies with the least amount of disruption to their education and schedules as possible. One consequence of this emergency change was that, although assessments were now online and (mostly) un-proctored, they became open-book examinations (OBEs) in the process. Unfortunately, because of the short timescale in which these changes had to be implemented, there is a risk that these OB examinations are assessing closed-book examination (CBE) pedagogy. This article argues that if academic staff retain pre-existing learning and teaching materials, initially designed for CBE, but then examine students by OBE, this will only bring the disbenefits of both CBE and OBE; academic staff need to review the design, assessment, guidance, formative assessments, and delivery of modules to ensure that they align with this mode of examination. This article provides some guidance for law schools on these matters drawing on the pedagogical theory on OBE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journalism educators train students on Associated Press (AP) style, helping them navigate grammar, accuracy, and ethical issues. However, there is little peer-reviewed research testing which methods are most effective. This article used a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest methodology over six semesters to test three common methods: timed, closed-book, in-class quizzes; timed, open-book, in-class editing exercises; and take-home exercises. No one method proved statistically superior. All types moved students from high Fs to Cs. This study showed that learning AP style needs constant reinforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open-book examinations (OBEs) will likely become increasingly important assessment tools. We investigated how access to open-book resources affected questions testing factual recall, which might be easy to look-up, versus questions testing higher-order cognitive domains. Few studies have investigated OBEs using modern Internet resources or as summative assessments. We compared performance on an examination conducted as a traditional closed-book exam (CBE) in 2019 (N = 320) and a remote OBE with free access to Internet resources in 2020 (N = 337) due to COVID-19. This summative, end-of-year assessment focused on basic science for second-year medical students. We categorized questions by Bloom's taxonomy ('Remember', versus 'Understand/Apply'). We predicted higher performance on the OBE, driven by higher performance on 'Remember' questions. We used an item-centric analysis by using performance per item over all examinees as the outcome variable in logistic regression, with terms 'Open-Book, 'Bloom Category' and their interaction. Performance was higher on OBE questions than CBE questions (OR 2.2, 95% CI: 2.14–2.39), and higher on 'Remember' than 'Understand/Apply' questions (OR 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09–1.19). The difference in performance between 'Remember' and 'Understand/Apply' questions was greater in the OBE than the CBE ('Open-Book' * 'Bloom Category' interaction: OR 1.2, 95% CI: 1.19–1.37). Access to open-book resources had a greater effect on performance on factual recall questions than higher-order questions, though performance was higher in the OBE overall. OBE design must consider how searching for information affects performance, particularly on questions measuring different domains of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Effective assessment is one of the most important educational planning elements. The present study aimed to determine the impact of open-book assessment on students' learning and satisfaction. Material and methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study on 60 4th semester students of operating room and anesthesiology of the North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, North of Iran from 1 July 2019 to 30 March 2020. In the intervention group, the students were divided into groups of five and were given essay questions and a textbook on blood transfusion, and were asked to answer the questions in a participatory and open-book assessment method. In the control group, the assessment was performed in a separate environment by a written method with the same essay questions as the intervention group. Results: The results showed that 89% of the students in the intervention group were satisfied with the openbook assessment method. The majority of students found this method effective in reducing test fear and anxiety (93.4%), increasing durability and depth of learning (90%), improving speed and facilitating learning (80%) and creating interest and satisfaction (89%) and reported completely agree. The mean score of students in the intervention group was 4.5 ±0.77 and in the control group was 2.2 ±0.85, which was statistically significant (p = 0.01). Conclusions: The open-book assessment method leads to the students' active participation in studying and answering questions. It also facilitates deep learning, reduces anxiety, and improves the students' learning speed. Universities should promote students' learning, academic achievement, and motivation through innovative assessment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This rapid response documents an institutional development project focused on enabling a transition to open-book assessment practices at the authors' institution. The case study outlines curricular and institutional context, before engaging in an in-depth review of development methods focused on supporting the transition to open-book examinations mandated by the emergence of COVID-19 in Ireland. Its main output is a reference resource outlining potential methods for repurposing exam questions already pre-ratified by external examiners for closed-book purposes, for novel use in open-book contexts. It also outlines potential implications for future practice in assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates students' use of dictionaries for examination purposes at Rhodes University in South Africa. The practice, which is provided for by the university's language policy, is widely seen as a linguistic intervention particularly aimed at assisting English additional language students, the majority of whom speak African languages, with purely linguistic information. Such a view is misconceived as it ignores the fact that the practice predates the present institutional language policy which was adopted in 2006. Although it was difficult to establish the real motivation prior to the language policy, this study indicates that both English mother-tongue and English additional language students use the dictionary in examinations for assistance that may be considered to be broadly pedagogic rather than purely linguistic. This then invites academics to reconsider the manner in which they teach and assess, cognisant of the pedagogic value of the dictionary which transcends linguistic assistance.

Sonography programs continuously explore and evaluate methods to improve quality. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate the use of open-book examinations (OBEs) in an accredited sonography program. Participants included sonography students enrolled in an academic health sciences center who used an OBE format in two ultrasound physics courses. OBE mean examination scores were compared to students who used a closed-book examination (CBE) format. No statistically significant difference was seen in mean examination scores between the OBE and CBE cohorts with the exception of Spring Examination 1 (P =.0026). All OBE students (n = 17) participated in focus groups. Qualitative analysis showed examination preparation and text usage changed over time. Seventy percent of OBE students reported reduced examination tension and stress. OBEs do not have a significant effect on examination grades, and examination anxiety and stress are reported to be reduced. The OBE cohort noted a preference of OBEs over CBEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among different methods which evaluate students' performance and learning results at Master programmes in International Arbitration / Alternative Dispute Resolution is an open book exam. It helps check student's knowledge as well as application of cognitive / intellectual / thinking skills and practical / professional / subject skills. Here examinees are allowed to use educational materials during the exam but they succeed only in case of thorough preparation of both a teacher and students, namely: adaptation of students to an open book exam format; development of necessary guidelines; determination of the targets which should be achieved; establishment of objective marking criteria; tailoring principles for reference materials selection; application of effective data retrieval methods and so on. A teacher must be ready to combat some potential problems which can arise while organizing an open-book exam: complete reliance on the prepared materials; poor time management of students; unfair competition (falsification of the material); corruption; cheating. In spite of some disadvantages, there is a list of an open exam advantages, prerogatively, stimulation of student intellectual vigour and application of theory into practice. An open book exam places the focus on higher abilities such as analysis, synthesis, compilation, interpretation, etc., making a student think deeply and creatively. The most important condition for successful open book exam is to outline the materials permitted for utilization in the classroom and insure their availability to the students, guaranteeing equality to every participant. It is proved that there is an urgent necessity to apply an open book exam as an assessment method at Master degree programmes in International Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant influence on medical education, most notably in terms of content delivery and provision of assessments. These unique times have facilitated the introduction of many new educational methods in medical schools globally each of which with potential merits and drawbacks. Importantly, the use of remote platforms to carry out online teaching has been especially vital in ensuring the continued training of doctors but other techniques such as telemedicine, online clinical case repositories and even virtual reality headsets are also being used to overcome these difficult circumstances. Some institutions also opted for open book written examinations raising issues surrounding this format's legitimacy and potential benefits. Practical examinations are even harder to facilitate and although most were cancelled, this crisis may result in innovation which changes their future format. For example some may include audible clinical signs played online through a computer speaker to replace clinical examination. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an overhaul of medical school orthodoxy that whilst disruptive, may serve to expose institutions to novel means of teaching and assessment which may ultimately improve medical education in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong arguments are put forward in literature that teaching methods should be aligned with assessment practices in order to optimise the teaching-learning environment. When the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants changed its initial test of competence examination (ITC) from a closed-book to an open-book format, accredited universities changed their assessment accordingly. This article investigates how students and lecturers perceive the changes made to teaching and assessment after the introduction of open-book assessment. A survey was performed among prospective chartered accountants preparing for the ITC. These students were mostly assessed through closed-book examinations in their graduate studies, but were assessed using open-book examinations in their final year. The views of students and lecturers in certain universities' departments of accountancy were compared. The views of students and lecturers differed significantly on the extent of changes which were made to teaching practices and the setting of examination papers. The article identified aspects to be considered to encourage students' deep learning, long term retention, selection of knowledge and preparation for openbook assessment. Issues lecturers need to take into account when determining their teaching and assessment approach within the broader context of an open-book assessment environment were also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focused self‐directed learning is very much essential at present in medical education to catch‐up with the increasing information load. Cognitive psychology laboratory studies show that repeated testing of information produces superior retention relative to repeated study. The overall goal of this intervention was to evaluate the effectiveness of "Test enhanced learning" in the form of "Open book examination" as a formative assessment in Biochemistry when compared to "Self‐study." Three exercises were carried out after the regular teaching sessions on different topics in biochemistry for the first year MBBS students. A multiple choice questions based pretest was conducted after the regular lecture classes on a topic but before the revision exercise. The students were subjected "Open book examination" with short answer questions for a period of 1 hour. A posttest was done with the same set of MCQs after the revision exercises. The gain score of "Open book examination" was compared with that of "Self study." Feedback from the students was taken. The isolated results from each of the three exercises conducted and their combined results supported the hypothesis that "Test enhanced learning" in the form of open book examination is a superior form of learning process than self‐study for assimilation of knowledge. Most of the students opined that the "Open book examination" enhanced their self directed focused learning process. The students felt that "Open book examination" is more beneficial than "Self study" in reinforcing the learning concepts after regular didactic lectures. © 2018 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 46(5):472–477, 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015 the government initiated reforms to GCSE English Literature which included a shift from open book to closed book examinations. This change, now being implemented in schools, has been overlooked in research and policy discourse. This study compares government intentions for the reforms with teachers' experiences of teaching poetry, using data drawn from interviews with seven teachers. Teachers felt the demands of closed book examinations affected their autonomy, distribution of classroom time and students' creative relationship with poetry. This study raises questions as to whether closed book examinations are appropriate for assessing poetry and are conducive to a fulfilling poetry education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on perspective of an advocate general (AG) Juliane Kokott over different cases related to data protection. Topics discussed include analysis of the Peter Nowak v Data Protection Commissioner with assessment of being associated with the Institute of Chartered Accountants (CAI) in Ireland; analysis of concerns regarding an open book examinations; and illustration of filing system concept with assessment of examination scripts.

Confidence levels of students enrolled in open access programs and undergraduate courses were measured at the University of Newcastle. The open access science students aimed to gain access to undergraduate studies in various disciplines at University. The undergraduate students were enrolled in a variety of degrees and were surveyed during their first semester of study in chemistry. The 'third person effect' was used to measure the confidence levels of these two groups of students. Using this technique, the study examined the extent to which students undertaking open access programs and undergraduate course were confident in learning. It was found that a lack of confidence arises predominantly in females who were also less optimistic in predicting the performance of a third person beginning their respective course. The results from open access students collected from consecutive years were compared to the results of undergraduate chemistry students. The findings were significant in that the students in the first year of undergraduate chemistry had significantly lower confidence than students in open access courses who are traditionally thought of disadvantaged in some way. The paper argues the need to build confidence in students who experience high levels of uncertainty in learning. Building confidence in all students in early stages is known to optimise academic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lexikos is the property of Bureau of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study investigated the effect of a semester-long aging and adult development course that included an intergenerational, service-learning component on attitudes toward older adult men and women, aging anxiety, and interest in occupations that serve older adults among individuals training for careers in healthcare and social services. It also investigated the relationship between quality of intergenerational contact and ageist attitudes as well as differences in attitudes toward older adult men and older adult women. Data collection occurred across two semesters. Participants were 70 undergraduates from healthcare and social service majors. Attitudes improved and aging anxiety declined over the semester; interest in occupations serving older adults did not change. Quality of intergenerational contact was related to attitudes and occupational interest at pre-test and posttest. Implications for teaching as well as service-learning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This quasi-experimental study reports on the effectiveness of three assessment strategies for students’ performance. The primary goal was to determine whether there are any improvements in students’ conceptual learning when a frequent (weekly) quiz is used for grading purposes compared to using midterm and final examinations only. Another goal was to ascertain whether students perform better when they are allowed to work collaboratively on quizzes compared to students taking quizzes individually. The results showed that when the quizzes are open-book, and students have a chance to collaborate (discuss in pairs how to answer the quiz questions), they perform significantly higher in their final examinations and their final projects (an indicator of conceptual learning). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open book assessment is not a new idea, but it does not seem to have gained ground in higher education. In particular, not much literature is available on open book examinations in mathematics and statistics in higher education. The objective of this paper is to investigate the appropriateness of open book assessments in a first-year business statistics course. Data over two semesters of open book assessments provided some interesting results when compared with the closed book assessment regime in the following semester. The relevance of the results is discussed and compared with findings from the literature. The implications of insights gained for further practice in the assessment of mathematics and statistics is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this study was to investigate university students’ experiences of open-book, open-web online examinations compared to traditional class examinations concerning preparing, responding, and learning. The data (N = 110) were collected by an online survey from the university students who took an online examination. The students used approximately the same time to study for an online examination as for faculty examination, but over half of them reported using more time for responding and learning more from an online examination compared to a faculty examination. The study supports the earlier findings that assessment methods are essential for students’ learning experiences and that self-efficacy beliefs are essential in positive learning experiences. It also indicates that self-efficacy is affected differently for different students by the online context and that the individual differences in experiencing the learning environment should be taken into account in assessment procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The question of whether open-book examinations (OBE) are preferable to closed book examinations (CBE) is not a new one. However, little has been written on the question of the use of OBE in the discipline of law or as a means of promoting more effective teaching and learning. This article will examine the arguments for and against the utilisation of OBE as opposed to CBE for students of law at university level. Utilising secondary data, as well as a primary small-scale empirical study the author explores student views of OBE and CBE and their significance for teaching and learning in law. It is suggested that the issue may not be simply a question of choice of assessment methods and their value but rather involves examining and evaluating approaches to teaching, learning and curriculum design. In conclusion it is argued that there are several factors which need to be taken into account when deciding what form of assessment is the most appropriate for these students but that the key requirement is that the course design and teaching, learning and assessment methods are aligned and considered as a whole, matching learning outcomes to teaching and learning activities and to the form of assessment chosen. Only within this context can OBE promote more effective learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading-into-writing assessments on pre-sessional language programmes typically employ either a take-home essay format with a substantial reading component or an exam-based writing task with a reading component of perhaps only one or two pages. While both approaches reflect a welcome trend towards more integrative models of validity for the assessment of academic writing, their usefulness may nevertheless be undermined by their task design. The apparent recent increase in the activity of ghost writers, often facilitated by various technological means, can cast sufficient doubt over the authorship of take-home essays to invalidate the assessment. The exam-based task, on the other hand, may suffer from construct under-representation (Messick, 1996: 6) since its limited reading component requires little or no expeditious reading (Weir and Urquhart, 1998: 98–100) of the longer texts commonly associated with university study. This article describes a response to these validity issues in the form of an open-book-exam, concluding that the processing of longer texts outside the exam room combined with the security of a written response under exam conditions can reduce the time spent on dealing with plagiarism cases arising from outside assistance while at the same time demonstrating some positive washback on learning (Messick, 1996: 6) in terms of increased engagement with the source texts used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Previous studies have suggested that when reading texts, lower achievers are more sensitive than their stronger counterparts to surface-level cues, such as graphic illustrations, and that even when uninformative, such concrete supplements tend to raise the text's subjective comprehensibility. Aims We examined how being led astray by uninformative concrete supplements in expository texts affects achievement. We focused on the mediating role of metacognitive processes by partialling out the role of cognitive ability, as indicated by SAT scores, in accounting for the found differences between higher and lower achievers. Sample and method Undergraduate students studied expository texts in their base versions or in concrete versions, including uninformative supplements, in a within-participant design. The procedure had three phases: Studying, open-book test taking, and reanswering questions of one's choice. Results Overall, judgements of comprehension ( JCOMPs) were higher after participants studied the concrete than the base versions, and the participants benefited from the open-book test and the reanswering opportunity. An in-depth examination of time investment, JCOMP, confidence in test answers, choice of questions to reanswer, and test scores indicated that those whose metacognitive processes were more effective and goal driven achieved higher scores. Conclusions The effectiveness of metacognitive processes during learning and test taking constitutes an important factor differentiating between higher and lower achievers when studying texts that include potentially misleading cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to present student perspectives of open book examinations, contrasting them to those for closed book examinations. Reasons and advantages of using open book examinations are offered and may be aligned with important accreditation criteria stipulated by official accreditation bodies, such as the Engineering Council of South Africa. The perspectives of senior electrical engineering students, enrolled in a telecommunications module, regarding open book examinations from two higher educational institutes in South Africa were obtained using a questionnaire survey. More than 80% of students from a residential contact university and less than 60% of students from an open distance learning institute passed their open book examination. The questionnaire survey highlighted that more than 50% of the polled students would prefer open book examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a case-study approach, interviews with four final-year psychology students showed different approaches to learning and varying experiences of teaching in courses assessed through open-book exams. Analysis of their experiences, supported by previous research findings, provided insights into the reasons for the contrasting approaches being adopted. Some students reported misperceptions of the purpose of the open-book format and failed, but a changed perception of the assessment, later on, made them more aware of having to adopt a deep approach. In other cases, perceptions of teaching, and of the tutor, played an important part in the students' readiness to develop a personal understanding bringing in both cognitive and affective influences. In our sample, we found evidence that teaching-learning experiences involving feelings of acceptance and encouragement, with mutual respect of each other's thinking and reasoning, could provide students with the freedom and confidence necessary to develop academically valid, personal understandings through a 'meeting of minds '. Where such respect and encouragement was lacking, the pursuit of personal understanding was curtailed, and passing exams seemed to become the main concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of open-book tests, closed-book tests, and notecards on tests in an introductory statistics course is described in this article. A review of the literature shows that open-book assessments are universally recognized to reduce anxiety. The literature is mixed however on whether deeper learning or better preparation occurs with open-book exams. This article reviews the Math 300 Statistics course testing policy which evolved from closed-book exams to open-book exams to closed-book exams with notecards. Our experience led to increased student enjoyment of the course while continuing to encourage deeper student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the benefits and pitfalls of computerized take-home testing in an undergraduate curriculum. A case study of how health science course "nutrition" utilized computerized take-home testing is presented. A survey was conducted after the implementation of computerized take-home testing program. After detailed data analysis on students' feedback, advantages and disadvantages of computerized take-home testing are discussed. It is concluded that the biggest advantage of computerized take-home tests is the convenience it brings to both instructors and students, however students' aberrant behaviors such as cheating still presents the biggest challenge to the instructors who intend to implement take-home testing [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments examined the influence of practice with, and the expectancy of, open-book tests (students viewed studied material while taking the test) versus closed-book tests (students completed the test without viewing the studied material) on delayed retention and transfer. Using GRE materials specifically designed for open-book testing, participants studied passages and then took initial open- or closed-book tests. Open-book testing led to better initial performance than closed-book testing, but on a delayed criterial (closed-book) test both types of testing produced similar retention after a two-day delay in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2 participants were informed in advance about the type of delayed criterial test to expect (open- or closed-book). Expecting an open-book test (relative to a closed-book test) decreased participants’ time spent studying and their delayed test performance on closed-book comprehension and transfer tests, demonstrating that test expectancy can influence long-term learning. Expectancy of open-book tests may impair long-term retention and transfer compared to closed-book tests, despite superior initial performance on open-book tests and students’ preference for open-book tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the Online Slang Open Book project (www.wikislang.org) we developed based on MediaWiki (www.MediaWiki.org). The project was designed to help ESL learners to study English slang in an authentic context and help them appreciate the cultural differences between English and their mother languages. This study's results suggest that a Wiki is an effective tool to improve the ESL learning process and learners tend to collaborative well in Wikis. The implication of the project and the future work are discussed at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language curriculum development processes are typically seen as needs analysis, goal setting, syllabus design, methodology and evaluation. This paper deals with the possibility of exploring a textbook in the examination hall. Open book examination, unlike the conventional exam procedures, demands the learners to apply their understanding of the subject rather than mere regurgitation. This venture on the application of the concepts/ theories to real life issues is not only a challenging task for the candidates but also for the question paper setter. Further this examination is an exercise in logical thinking in that the candidate aims to reach the desired goal within a stipulated timeframe. Besides destressing the students' from exam blues, Open book examination evaluates the creative and critical faculties of the learners. A survey was conducted by administering a structured questionnaire to students of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Trichy. The data was collected from a random sample of 75 students. The questionnaire aimed at eliciting responses regarding their attitude towards open book examination. The data thus obtained was subjected to analysis and presented in this paper. Qualitative discussions were also conducted with ELT experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of WordPerfect computer software to detect plagiarism in open-book essay examinations that are electronically submitted. The author says that the WordPerfect 12 application, which can reveal formatting codes in the original and test papers, is better than the Microsoft Word software in detecting cheating or plagiarism. The author refers to the lack of anonymity on the Internet, the goal of preventing plagiarism, and an example of an essay which has an attributed quotation and one that does not have a citation.

Multiple-choice (MC) examinations are becoming increasingly popular in higher education because they can be used effectively to assess breadth of knowledge in large cohorts of students. This present research investigated psychology students' performance on, and experiences of, MC examinations with and without correction for guessing. In Study 1, data were collected from two cohorts of students across three psychology MC examinations. The results revealed that students scored higher, and left fewer questions unanswered, when there was no correction for guessing. Furthermore, when the correction for guessing was removed from the theory MC examination, students who were told there was no correction for guessing did better than those told there was a correction. In addition, there was limited evidence of gender differences, with female students performing significantly better on one MC examination than males. In Study 2, a further set of first-year psychology students reported their experiences of correction for guessing on open-book and closed-book MC examinations. Students reported feeling less anxious and more confident on the open-book MC examination. The findings of both of these studies have implications for instructors deciding whether or not correction for guessing is appropriate, and for the advice to be given to students preparing for MC examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments examined the testing effect with open-book tests, in which students view notes and textbooks while taking the test, and closed-book tests, in which students take the test without viewing notes or textbooks. Subjects studied prose passages and then restudied or took an open- or closed-book test. Taking either kind of test, with feedback, enhanced long-term retention relative to conditions in which subjects restudied material or took a test without feedback. Open-book testing led to better initial performance than closed-book testing, but this benefit did not persist and both types of testing produced equivalent retention on a delayed test. Subjects predicted they would recall more after repeated studying, even though testing enhanced long-term retention more than restudying. These experiments demonstrate that the testing effect occurs with both open- and closed-book tests, and that subjects fail to predict the effectiveness of testing relative to studying in enhancing later recall. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context Two learning approaches are consistently distinguished in the literature: deep and surface learning. The deep learning approach is considered preferable. Open-book tests are expected to stimulate deep learning and to offer a possible way of handling the substantial growth in medical knowledge. In this study we test the hypothesis that open-book tests stimulate deep learning more than closed-book tests. Methods Medical students in Years 2 ( n = 423) and 3 ( n = 306) participated in this study. They evaluated their preparation for open- and closed-book tests using the test for Deep Information Processing (DIP). This questionnaire consists of 24 items divided into three subscales: Critical Reading; Broaden One's Context, and Structuring. A paired t-test was used to analyse the data. Results Both cohorts scored significantly higher when preparing for closed-book tests for the overall DIP score and on the Broaden One’s Context and Structuring scales. Year 3 students also scored significantly higher on the Critical Reading scale when preparing for closed-book tests. Gender differences were found: women used deeper learning approaches than men. Conclusions Our hypothesis was not supported. In fact, the opposite was found: closed-book tests stimulated a deep learning approach more than open-book tests. Three possible explanations are: deep learning is particularly necessary for remembering and recalling knowledge; students feel more confident when preparing for closed-book tests, and students are more motivated to study for closed-book tests. The debate on the concept of deep learning in higher education should probably be renewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents a study which examined the impact of open-book examinations on students' grades, academic behaviors and long-term learning in an introductory biology course. The study showed that open-book examinations do not promote long-term learning. The outcomes showed that students who took open-book examinations and could look up answers on in-semester lecture examinations missed significantly more of the same questions on the closed-book final examination. In this regard, the author believed that having open-book examinations during the semester put students at a significant disadvantage on the final examination.

This article describes the structure and rationale for an open-book approach in professional accountancy examinations. The concept of knowledge management and the recognition that some knowledge ought to be embedded in the minds of professional accountants while other knowledge ought to be readily accessible and capable of application forms the basis of this approach to open book assessment. The literature is examined and provides a context for the approach adopted. An initial analysis of an open-book examination provided a positive indication as to the feasibility of the proposals. Testing in a post-graduate accounting class was carried out with the results providing tentative support for this approach to open book assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An examination of an open-book testing approach in a family medicine clerkship seeks to determine whether this method more closely mirrors the discipline of family medicine, where practitioners refer daily to written resource materials in order to make clinical decisions without compromising the learning and assessment process. Student scores on the multiple-choice test were analysed by year, by quarter and by site using ANOVA. Students in the experimental site were interviewed to determine preparation style, use of text during test, as well as attitudes toward open-book testing. Analysis of variance showed that the interaction of site and year was significant at p&ThickSpace;=&ThickSpace;0.03. The mean score of 88.2 for Maine students in 2002 was significantly different from the other three mean scores. The desired qualitative outcomes of the intervention were confirmed: reducing the anxiety of students, wider reading of the textbook, knowing the structure of the textbook as a learning resource, and deeper understanding of concepts and principles rather than time spent on memorization. While the difference in scores did reach statistical significance, it is important to note that the difference in mean score was only four points on a 100-point scale. Given the percentage of the total grade represented by the test score, it is unlikely that this difference represents any real difference in grade for students in Maine compared with Vermont. The students appeared to approach the textbook and therefore, perhaps, the body of knowledge as a whole with the orientation of a generalist. The MMC Clerkship Director recommended the implementation of the open-book approach to the Family Practice clerkship at all sites and the University of Vermont Medical School accepted the proposal. This recommendation supports advising students on the preparation for an open-book test and on tactics for the best use of the textbook during the test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]