Originally from Brisbane, Kylie came to Armidale first as a UNE student, and then for the last 19 years as a member of staff, the majority of which has been spent working in Examinations and Scheduling, where she is now manager.
But since 2017 Kylie has led the Online Exams Project (OLX), and it is something she is passionate about.
Since the project was established the number of exams available to be sat online has increased from 15 units being studied by 854 students, with just 72 students taking up the offer, to 76% of all the exams in the just-concluded Trimester 3, and 20% of students sitting them online.
“We seem to have plateaued at 20% and we’re in the process now of understanding why that is,” Kylie said.
Research indicates 25-30% is a tipping point for uptake, Kylie says, so she is working on dispelling some of the myths around online exams and educating people on the benefits to help reassure students.
Kylie said some Trimester 3 exams had clashed with the first day of the school year, so many teachers and parents were forced to miss what is often a very significant day.
“But with online exams you can chose to sit it at 6pm in your own space, in your own comfy chair – problem solved,” she said.
“Research shows that your recall is better in the space that you learned that content, so if you are sitting the exam in your study you will do better.
“Also, it takes handwriting out of the equation. In what other high stakes assessment do we ask people to write for two hours?”
Kylie said online exams made marking easier and more immediate, and offered many more options in exam design which is limited by paper exams.
“For instance a psychology student could watch a video of a client rather than read a written piece, and make their assessment based on watching that content; an accounting student could create a solution in a spreadsheet instead of on paper; a computer science student is typing code with a keyboard instead of writing it on paper,” she said.
“And the supervision is better than we can provide in exam centres. We have professional supervisors on line, they aren’t volunteers.
“They can see and hear the student, they can view what’s on the screen and they check the workspace prior to the exam starting via a web cam, then run an app to turn off blacklisted programs and functions.
“It is also much easier to verify people’s identities via biometrics and facial recognition technology.
“So online exams are better for students, better for UNE, the integrity is better, and the assessment is better.”
Kylie said paper exams would remain for those who can’t, or elect not to, sit an exam online, but the results of surveys run by UNE indicate students who sit an exam online are very positive about the experience.
“The students love online exams,” she said, “we just need more people to help get the message out, but I’m confident 80% of students doing exams online is achievable.”
