A new way to conduct subjective Exams

A new way to conduct subjective exams

Institutions are identifying new ways to manage academic exams with the help of technology. Online exams can be easily managed with the help of a secure online exam platform for multiple choice objective questions.

However many of the institution courses are not suitable for conducting multiple-choice based exams. It requires theory exams based evaluation.

Conducting online exams for theory-based assessment seems difficult for the institutes as they are not used to adopting new technology. Subjective or theory-based online exams must be suitable for all students including those who do not have good typing skills or computer handling skills.

Theory exams might include special symbols related to mathematics, chemistry. It can also include diagrams where the student is supposed to draw diagrams in the answer sheet.

Subjective Exams – A Brief Overview

Subjective exams, in general, aim to assess areas of students’ performance that are complex and qualitative in nature. Subjective exams are conducted by using subjective questions that may have more than one correct answer or more ways to express it.

Subjective questions for assessments have gained immense popularity over the years and rightfully so. Preparing subjective questions is time-effective, and it also offers the students to express their viewpoints in creative and more than one manner. 

Subjective assessment questions include asking students to:

  • Respond with concise and accurate answers.
  • Construct responses in an elaborate manner.
  • Define a term, concept, or significant event.
  • Respond with a critically thought-out or factually supported opinion.
  • Respond to a theoretical scenario.

Subjective assessments are deemed excellent for subjects like writing, reading, art/art history, philosophy, political science, or literature. Besides, subjects that encourage debate, critical thinking, interpretation of art forms or policies, or applying specific knowledge to real-world scenarios are well-suited for subjective assessments.

Online examination systems, now, can be leveraged for conducting subjective exams online in an easy, quick, and hassle-free manner. 

Further, we will cover how exactly that’s done.

Conduct Subjective exams

Here are 5 key features of online subjective exams that can help you to switch to online theory exams instead of the traditional pen and paper-based assessment process.

1. Voice-to-Text Conversion

Voice to Text Conversion

Now you can easily manage your subjective exams for theoretical answers easily. The student just needs to talk on the microphone attached to the computer or laptop. 

The system would convert entire speech into text format and it would save it as an answer response. So imagine, if you are solving mathematical problems or questions where there are multiple steps, as a candidate you can easily speak those steps and it would be saved as an answer for that particular question.

Students with limited typing speed can overcome the issue of typing an answer by speaking the answer. The system would dynamically convert the speech into text format and would display in front of the screen.

Speech to text for subjective online exams

2. Support for Mathematical Symbols

Support for Mathematical Symbols

Typing special symbols related to science, mathematics can be challenging while conducting online subjective assessments.

Here is one simple editor available for online subjective exams. Students can easily define mathematical symbols using a rich text editor. Students can also type the steps taken for the execution of a particular problem.

Mathematical symbols on subjective exams

3. Option for Diagrams

Option for Diagrams

In traditional pen and paper-based exams, students can easily draw the diagrams, graphs, charts as a part of the answers written. Marks are assigned based on the accuracy of the diagram/ chart. 

In an online exam context, using tools like paint or any other drawing tools can be difficult as it would involve providing suitable training to students for the effective usage of the drawing tools.

The online subjective exam feature of the Eklavvya platform provides the option to select a suitable diagram from the pool of diagrams. Diagrams are essential to check to check the understanding of the student about a particular topic, it is not essential to check the drawing skill of the student in this context.

While typing an answer or speaking the answer, if a student feels that there is a supporting diagram for this answer then the student can click on the add diagram button as shown to select a suitable diagram related to this answer and attach it with the individual answer spoken or written for the particular question.

Option to add images during Online Subjective Exams

Exam candidates can also draw diagrams on the paper and it can be uploaded for respective answers. Here is one of the screenshot of exam screen with image upload option

Upload scan copy for answer of subjective online exam

4. Digital Evaluation by the Examiner

Digital Evaluation

In the case of online subjective exam evaluation, examiners have their own logins to evaluate answers digitally. Examiners can log in to the system and see individual answers written by the students. Examiners can assign marks to individual questions. 

The system also calculates the total score of the candidate. There is a facility to download the individual scorecards and downloading multiple scores in the excel format is also available.

5. Ease of Result Processing

Ease of Result Processing

Result processing becomes easy in case of online subjective assessment. The system can calculate total and it can be feed to the result-generation system for mark sheet preparation. 

Entire evaluation and result processing can be achieved in a paperless manner quite easily with the help of online subjective evaluation.

What are subjective test questions?

Subjective questions are the questions that require responses in the form of explanations as elaborate as possible. Unlime objective questions, these are not fact-based questions. All in all, subjective questions can consist of essay questions, short answers, scenario-based questions, opinion questions, etc. 

What are the advantages of subjective tests?

Some of the key advantages of subjective questions are:

  1. These help evaluate a candidate’s understanding of the concepts and subject matters
  2. These help gauge the creativity level of the candidates in approaching the similar set of questions
  3. Help gauge the analytical, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of the candidates 

Is subjective test reliable?

Yes, subjective tests are as reliable as objective tests. Subjective questions help the evaluator gauge the creative, thinking, and explanation capabilities of the candidates. Subjective questions are also formulated in a logical manner to assess the candidates. 

What is the disadvantage of subjective methods?

Subjective questions come with their set of challenges too. Candidates need more time to attempt such questions. Subjective questions can be framed by subject matter experts only, and not all subjects are good candidates for subjective evaluation. 

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