Today, millions of students in India are trying to cram as much information as possible with the board examinations going on. They are reading off flash cards, memorising key events and formulae that might crop up during the exams. But what if none of this was necessary?
The National Education Policy 2020 has recommended implementing various modes of exams for the benefit of students. This has created a renewed interest in open book examinations among policymakers, national and state boards. The CBSE has decided to conduct a comprehensive study as a pilot for students from classes 9 to 12 to assess the viability of implementing OBE in the context of the Indian educational framework. This experiment will be conducted in select CBSE schools.
From the time that NEP was released, various initiatives have been carried out to assess different aspects of student learning to transform the culture of assessment. The highlights include a focus on core concepts, high-order and foundational skills, self and peer assessment and case-based questions.
With the emphasis on 21st-century skills of critical and creative thinking, some educational experts suggest open-book exams, which will assess how students apply their knowledge to real-life problems instead of what they have memorised. Currently, the secondary and board exams are using up valuable time for learning with excessive coaching and preparation. This forces students to learn a narrow band of content in a single stream. To encourage holistic development, discouraging coaching culture and rote learning for exam preparation is essential. Whether it is a board examination made easier or an open book exam, it should primarily test the core capacities and competencies of students rather than content memorisation.
To create child-centric evaluation systems, open book exams require national boards and teachers to be creative not only in designing innovative assessments, but also in using novel methods in classroom transactions. OBE helps to assess learner readiness, apply course content to given scenarios, analyse case studies and connect content with real-world situations. They allow questions where skills determine the appropriate application. The ability to apply knowledge is overlooked in the current system. OBEs are often harder than regular exams. Students need to understand the material, apply themselves, analyse and synthesise information in a given timeline.
This method of demonstrating knowledge is far more challenging than putting down memorised facts. Its success depends essentially on the quality of teaching. These exams are hard to design, and the making of guidelines is less predictable because they assess a more open range of answers.
Teachers require the necessary skills to design and implement student-centred learning activities in the classroom along with keeping pace with new pedagogies that move from rote to experiential learning.
This examination will succeed if the mindset of school education along with teacher training is transformed from foundational years upwards. A top-down approach to questioning without setting a learning context from childhood will be a challenge. In order to bring in OBE, teachers need to be open to new ideas, sift information from relevant data, be technologically enabled, flexible and enrich learners through experiences which are life-ready. The reality is that exams today are at odds with the focus on problem-solving and critical and creative thinking. The best exam would probably be that where a student is given information and the opportunity to develop planning, organisation and collaborative skills.
Education and schools stand at a crossroads. In many pockets, the promises of fairness, equity and social mobility have not been kept. With the coming in of the NEP, we can engage everyone in a system which will combine value and equity. Teachers should be encouraged to create innovative platforms that discover value-creating ideas through digital transformation, design and deliver competency-based learning and foster reflective discourse in classrooms. Assessments, guidance and measurement strategies need to be applied to effectively monitor and guide students throughout their school journey. Perhaps, then OBE may become a reality.
The writer is chairperson and executive director education, innovations and training, DLF schools and scholarship programmes
For OBE, teachers need to be open to new ideas and enrich learners through experiences which are life-ready
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18.03.2024
Today, millions of students in India are trying to cram as much information as possible with the board examinations going on. They are reading off flash cards, memorising key events and formulae that might crop up during the exams. But what if none of this was necessary?
The National Education Policy 2020 has recommended implementing various modes of exams for the benefit of students. This has created a renewed interest in open book examinations among policymakers, national and state boards. The CBSE has decided to conduct a comprehensive study as a pilot for students from classes 9 to 12 to assess the viability of implementing OBE in the context of the Indian educational framework. This experiment will be conducted in select CBSE schools.
From the time that NEP was released, various initiatives have been carried out to assess different aspects of student learning to transform the culture of assessment. The highlights include a focus on core concepts, high-order and foundational skills, self and peer assessment and case-based questions.
With the emphasis on 21st-century skills of........
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