Transitioning from paper-based to web-based testing in an ESP course at HEI

Abstract

The LSP courses taken by a large number of students often impose heavy workload on teachers when it comes to the testing phase, particularly if paper-based testing is still in use. Such testing is not only time-consuming and inefficient owing to the lengthy test development, grading and reviewing processes, but also stressful for teachers due to the possible grading mistakes, miscalculation of points, illegible students’ handwriting, etc. Using as an example an ESP undergraduate course at a business-oriented university, the purpose of this paper is to describe how testing in large LSP courses can be facilitated and made more efficient by shifting to web-based testing via Moodle. This descriptive study aims to outline the process of transition in terms of fulfilling the technical requirements, analysing the paper-based test to determine how best to adapt the test items and the grading system for computer delivery, which was followed by choosing question types and creating a question bank on Moodle. Although these transitioning phases are laborious and require some teacher training on how to use Moodle to create tests, once completed they significantly reduce subsequent teachers’ workload. The time needed to devise test items in every exam term is reduced to just a few clicks, teachers do not partake in grading since it is done completely by the computer, the reviewing lasts for a few minutes and the problems teachers previously faced with paper-based testing (grading mistakes, miscalculations, illegible handwriting) are avoided. Therefore, it transpires that the web-based testing via Moodle has eventually made the testing process more practical and efficient from teacher’s perspective, but also emphasized the importance of choosing the question types appropriately in order to achieve test authenticity.