Abstract
New Web-based technologies offer innovative opportunities in nursing courses. Blackboard(R) is one such program that allows faculty to interact with students in new ways. Experimentally, this software's online quizzes were substituted for traditional in-class quizzes in a master's level advanced pharmacology course. The author discusses concerns, benefits, and pitfalls of the online assessment features of Blackboard.
Examinations such as weekly quizzes, midterms, and comprehensive final exams, play an integral role in the assessment of students. In my advanced pharmacology course, these paper and pencil examinations are weighted as follows: weekly quizzes (30%), midterm (35%), final exam (35%). Historically, course evaluations related to weekly quizzes revealed student satisfaction with the assessments' relevance and "motivation factor." It is not uncommon to receive an evaluation comment at the completion of the course that reads, "Even though the weekly quizzes were stressful, they did make me study and keep up with the material."
With such positive comments on course evaluations about weekly quizzes, modifying the process may seem absurd.
However, Tomey 1 stated that changing to computer-based testing has several advantages:
* Test scores are immediately available to students.
* Testing administration procedures are uniform.
* The process of handing out, collecting, scoring, and handing back tests to the students becomes unnecessary. 1
Another educator added that this format also "eliminates traditional delays in knowing how well [students] performed and the clamor to know when grades will be posted."2
Tampering with what was both functional and appreciated about the course seemed a worthwhile experiment. In 2001, Emory University purchased a site license for Blackboard(R) (http://www.blackboard.com), which Yaskin characterized as "the industry's leading course management system on the basis of ease of use, widespread adoption, pedagogical flexibility, and breadth of intuitive features and functions for either Web-enhanced or distance learning."3 Blackboard's underpinnings hinge on four major areas: communication, assessments, content management, and control. This technology seemed like the perfect method to transform weekly, in-class quizzes to a computer-based or online activity. However, several questions remained.
Would students cheat when at home taking their quizzes online with their computers? Would groups of students collaborate in the school's computer lab in hopes that the "two heads are better than one" mentality would serve them well? Would certain students perform poorly with an online assessment because of computer-induced anxiety? How would online scores compare to in-class scores?
While genuinely feeling a sense of triumph with regard to improving class efficiency and using the latest technology, I also felt a loss of control with this experimental transition. The focus of this article is on Blackboard's assessment tool, specifically as it was used for online weekly quizzes. The midterm and final examinations were administered during class in the traditional fashion.