COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF OPEN-BOOK AND CLOSED-BOOK EXAMINATION IN UNDERGRADUATE SCIENCE EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Examinations are a feedback method for the teachers to understand and assess their teaching patterns. In the following study, undergraduate students of the microbiology course were made to attempt two types of exams. The exam was conducted on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The first type was an open book examination (OBE) where the students were allowed to have either textbook or lecture notes, while the second type was a conventional closed book examination (CBE). On assessment of both the exam papers, it was found that the class average remained the same for both the examinations. The feedback of students was taken to understand their perception and preference of the two types of tests. The students perceive open-book exams as more challenging since application-based questions are more difficult to answer, unlike closed-book exams where questions may be more direct and test their knowledge and understanding. Further, a survey was conducted among the science teachers to gauge their perception of the two types of testing methods.