Examination administering in Nigeria is going through a transformation, transformation of change, where the known platform of administering public examinations is getting archaic by the adoption of the new platform. We explore the benefits of choosing CBT in JAMB Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
CATEGORIES OF CBT BENEFITS
We address the categories that can be used to relay the benefits of CBT in any examination environment and especially in our focused examination (UTME). The categories are:
- Implementation
- Test administration
- Economics
Implementation: in a CBT environment the fear of examination materials being delayed commonly experienced in paper and pencil test during distribution and collection from each administrative end, rarely ever occur in CBT environment. The only short fall is the availability of computers needed for the administering of the examination. This shortfall is rightly addressed by JAMB, by assigning different dates for candidates (expanding the test window). And as time goes on to fully administer the examination on the same day.
Test Administration: it is a known fact that interaction with computer may cause anxiety for some students, while some students are used to the computer for other various reasons like games, typing and the likes. Computer anxiety does not refer to negative attitudes towards computers, but rather to a student’s “emotional reaction to using computers” (Erdogan, 2008, p. 823). It was also concluded that a reduction in computer anxiety can be met by giving those students the opportunities to use computers more. With the introduction of CBT and some CBT practice software to work with the perceived anxiety are more or less eradicated. The newly introduced platform can also serve as a foundation for future professional examinations.
Economics: it can be argued that much cost is required in the implementation of the newly introduced platform. But on the long run, after the all necessary requirement are met, like computers, computer laboratories, the cost implication in the administering of the examination is drastically reduced, and as well reduce carbon footprint.
Benefits of choosing CBT in UTME under the categories :
- More efficient administration
- Test Security improvement as a result shortfall in “leakages” of the examination.
- Data are more accurately collected
- Easier to make corrections on test if mistakes are observe
- Increased authenticity
Overall Summary of the Benefits CBT brings:
- Flexibility: more frequents sessions, reduced time for entries and faster results.
- Enhanced security
- Same or higher standard as paper and pencil tests
