The inaugural session for on-screen examinations in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) concluded in May with 7,597 students completing a total of 36,124 on-screen examinations in 156 IB World Schools worldwide.
The innovative on-screen examinations became a reality following careful software development over several years, together with essential feedback and collaboration with the MYP community during the pilot in 2015.
The examinations are unique because as well as being technologically innovative they are distinctively MYP as students use the authentic assessment approach to demonstrate conceptual thinking and the application of knowledge and understanding to unfamiliar contexts, including the use of global contexts. They are assessed on concepts and skills, with only 25% of marks being awarded for knowledge and understanding.
2016 has seen several additional and significant services released to help schools prepare for the exams. Services included the return of encrypted files as readable files to teachers during their trial assessment sessions for evaluation and marking, and a compatibility checker gave extra assurance to schools that the computers they intended to use in the exams were capable of running the examination software. These services, together with a comprehensive range of specimen examinations released in 2015, help schools integrate the exams into their teaching and learning during the final year of MYP studies.
Angela Brassington, Middle Years Programme Coordinator, said: “When I walked around the homerooms this morning the students were all very happy. We were all very impressed by how smoothly the IT situation ran as well. The technology all worked perfectly. One of the best comments I overheard from students after the exam was, ‘It wasn’t like an exam at all it was just like what we normally study!’”
During the live two-week assessment period, the IB Answers team and the on-screen examinations specialist team in the IB’s Assessment Centre provided 24-hour support. Overall feedback from the schools taking part has been overwhelmingly positive, and several isolated incidents were swiftly addressed with efficient and effective support.
Chief Assessment Officer, Paula Wilcock, said: “We have delivered valid, reliable, and innovative on-screen exams on a large scale, creating a foundation on which we can build ever more creative and effective student assessments in future years. The on-screen examinations are a big step into fully-digital assessment which opens many opportunities for continued innovation in assessment and related teaching and learning services for schools. Thank you to all the school staff and educators who worked with us to make it possible, and congratulations to all the students who completed assessments. I feel confident in hailing the first live MYP exam session a huge success.”
Interested in offering eAssessment?
Any IB World School teaching the MYP can register for eAssessment using the IB information system (IBIS). If you are interested in eAssessment,but your school is not yet part of the IB community, you can find out how to become an IB World School here.
Also, read about recent official regulation by England’s government regulator Ofqual which assures schools, parents, and students that MYP assessments meet strict quality standards.
 concluded in May with 7,597 students completing a total of 36,124 on-screen examinations in 156 IB World Schools worldwide.){kind=icon}