Comparison of online and traditional in class exams in computer science courses

With the development of ICT and the use of Internet, more and more traditional learning tasks are moved to Web. Although there are some well-distinguished benefits to using online testing compared to traditional proctored paper and pen exams mixed indication concerning the effectiveness of online exams exists. In this paper we investigate both types of exams. The purpose of our study is twofold. First we investigate the students’ preferences to the way of taking their exams. Second we compare course learning outcomes via students’ grades to further analyze students’ performance. Data were collected over 11 semesters from students enrolled in an information technology course in bachelor (N=767) and masters programs (N=471) at New Bulgarian University. In each semester the courses were taught by the same instructor. All students were asked to complete both types of exams. We found that students in bachelor programs prefer to do online testing while students in master programs show no preference to the way of examination. Our results suggest that online assessment in compared to pen and pencil exams does not damage students learning and may contribute to positive individual outcomes.