Fundamental papers
|
e-assessment
starts from
|
F1 to F3
|
Feb 2014
|
F4
|
Sept 2014
|
F5 to F9
|
Dec 2014
|
From as early as Feb 2014, ACCA
will roll out the e-assessment to replace the traditional handwritten answer
scripts which had been practised for more than a century. This will certainly be
a very forward looking move that could catapult ACCA to probably be the first
among the pack as pioneer of e-assessment.
However, much to the
disappointment of us lecturers the e-assessment stops at the Fundamental Level
papers only while the Professional Level papers are spared from such
e-assessment. As such, the traditional handwritten assessment still prevails
for Professional papers. Thus, the race for e-assessment shall continue for
whichever professional bodies bold enough to launch their “FULL e-assessment”
and claim the title for being the first.
Perhaps, a lot of factors are considered by ACCA
before launching the FULL e-assessment. As I can see, a great majority of
students attempting the Professional Level papers are Accounting Degree holders
exempted from all and if not majority of the Fundamental papers. Would it be
riskier to assess using handwriting or computer? I personally think they
(students) prefer and are ready to accept e-assessment as compared to
handwriting. Hearing complaints such as my fingers ached after writing non-stop
for the 3 hours is something of a norm for students.
Perception of e-assessment differs among students and lecturers alike. Well to clarify it is not limited to MCQs and fill in the blanks. Generally, the exam format contains 3 sections:
1. Objective Testing (MCQs)
2. Multi Task Questions
3. Long Form Questions (not mentioned much in the seminar)
Some of the Multi Task Questions includes:
1. Select and type your comment
Here, the student will select the clue words from the case study given and a two column table will appear with the clue word selected appearing on the left column while the right column remains empty for student to input the answer based on the clue words selected. This is exactly the same as my "extract and comment method" used in class, except that this one is made computerised while mine is manual. Wish I could get hold of the software for this!
An example (the underlined words are selected):
Seltec has decided to enter the retail market and has recently purchased two well-known brand names in the edible oil industry. One of the brand names has been in existence for many years and has a good reputation for quality.
Words selected
|
Comments (For student to type in their answer)
|
Purchased
|
Qualify as separately acquired intangible assets.
Thus, purchased cost is available.
|
Brand names
|
Non-physical substance which qualifies as intangible
assets under IAS 38 Intangible Assets
|
2. "Drop down" menu answer
A building is an
|
A. Asset
|
|
B. Liability
|
|
C. Equity
|
|
D. Income
|
|
E. Expense
|
3. Fill in the blanks
Spread sheets
will feature prominently for this format type of question and could include
filling in more than one blank. Answer is to be filled in the yellow box.
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
F
|
1
|
Cost
|
110,000
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
Residual value
|
10,000
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Useful life
|
5 years
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5
|
Depreciation
|
=(B1-B2)/B3
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
My thoughts on the format of Multi Task
Questions are marvellous as being someone with poor handwriting like myself,
e-assessment really takes away the punishment for illegible handwriting which
appears in almost all examiners’ report every sitting.
Another plus point brought up was that unlike the present examination sessions in June and December, the coming sessions shall be increased to FOUR times a year i.e. September, December, March and June exams. This is indeed fantastic as I also raised this up when asked to participate in the workshop for e-assessment sometime in 2012 last year. Having examinations conducted every quarterly greatly reduced the waiting time for resit students.
However, to a certain extent I also regretted suggesting this as I find it very uncomfortable to conduct lectures for two months and let the student attempt the exam in the third month. I felt that the knowledge learned has not sunk in yet in those three months. It is really a rush for a fresh student on the first attempt of the paper. So I believe I would still stick to my usual five months lecture and revision while exam on the sixth month.
What does e-assessment mean
to Lecturers?
It means we
lecturers have to change the way we lecture. Overhead projectors and even
visualizers would find it’s place in the dark storeroom as notebook with
projectors would be a common sight in all lecture halls and classrooms.
As spread sheet
would be one of the formats of a question, there is no other way to lecture other
than to just show students how to fill in the blanks in the spread sheet on the
screen. In fact, the original reason for e-assessment introduction was to accommodate
the basic computer skills needed especially on spread sheet in the student
assessment.
It is indeed
ideal if every student’s table is equipped with power socket for their own personal
notebook. Some hands-on is always necessary for any software related training.
Otherwise, students can’t remember the steps.
During the talk,
I was expecting to have some samples of questions for practise but was rather disappointed
when no sample was available, not even in the ACCA website. The practise
questions would be available at a much later date and needs to be purchased
separately.
So, what does e-assessment
mean to you?
