SDU Universitetspædagogik

Resources

Time is money, so financial considerations when planning a special type of exam depend very much on the amount of time to be invested in the type of exam.

First and foremost, we have in mind the hourly costs from the point of view of the institution: internal examiner, external examiner, administration, invigilators, etc. How much time does the exam require from preparation through to holding the actual exam? How much time does it take to examine all students in the subject? How much time is required to mark the students’ presentations?

Various expenses are also linked to the additional measures required in the exam rooms depending on the type of exam – for example, it takes longer for the technical and administrative staff to set up an exam room for 30 students for a four-hour written exam than it does for the same 30 students’ oral exam.

However, the time the students spend on the exam should also be taken into account – especially in relation to other exams taking place at the same time in their study programme. To avoid having students take a superficial approach to learning for the exam and the subject per se, the exam period in the study programme needs to be planned so as to ensure there is sufficient preparation time for each individual exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS	RESOURCES
MCQ and similar tests	Time-consuming to set up, but inexpensive to implement and assess.
Written invigilated exam without aids	Time-consuming to formulate the assignment. Relatively quick to assess.
Written invigilated exam with aids	Time-consuming to formulate the assignment. Relatively quick to mark.
Written paper	Producing the wording for the assignment does not take long. The assignment takes a long time to correct.
Portfolio	Takes a very long time to evaluate and provide feedback.
Logs	Time consuming for the teacher but peer feedback can be a possibility.
Internship report	Reading the report takes time.
Oral exam/Viva without preparation	Cost-intensive in terms of time and logistics. However, there is hardly any post-processing time.
Oral exam/Viva with preparation without aids	Cost-intensive in terms of time and logistics. However, there is hardly any post-processing time.
Oral exam/Viva with preparation and aids	Cost-intensive in terms of time and logistics. However, there is hardly any post-processing time.
Student presentations	Cost-neutral.
Objective structured clinical exam	Very cost-intensive and logistically challenging.
Practical test	Can be cost-intensive if there are a lot of students.
Active participation	Cost-neutral. However, this can result in extra work for the teacher.
Oral presentation based on synopsis	Ownership gives students motivation. There is a risk that students will opt out of dealing with content that is not directly relevant to the selected subject area.
Written paper with oral defence	Cost-intensive.
Portfolio and oral exam	Very cost-intensive.
Project exam	Cost-intensive.

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